Equilibrium
by Ryven
Summary: After the equation is balanced, there is equilibrium..... post-Revs AU. Chapter 7 and 8 reloaded. 9 soon.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: reviewed a few times, but not Beta'd by anyone else. I just really wanted to get this done and out there. I've changed a lot from its original post on the Hardline and I am continuing it. A sort of 'What if' that I started almost after walking out of the theater on Nov 5th. I realize what happened in Revs happened, but perhaps it could have happened another way ;) Thanks to Beat for the kick-ass title (which is also an excellent movie you should all go watch) Jah Love! HUGE thanks to Danascully for the ideas and encouragement.  
  
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"For certain is death for the born  
  
And certain is birth for the dead;  
  
Therefore over the inevitable  
  
Thou shouldst not grieve."- Bhagavad Gita, Ch2  
  
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Equilibrium ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Everything that has a beginning has an end .  
  
And every end is a new beginning.  
  
Night falls at the end of day, spring blooms as winter fades - one follows the other, balancing.  
  
For every beginning there is and end, and for each end, a new beginning.  
  
This cycle had ended. soon another would begin. Her protector understood this, accepted it, and fought against it even as she did.  
  
"So, they are going to restart it?"  
  
"I believe so," she answered heavily then took a long drag at her cigarette. It wouldn't be soon, but it would happen: the cycle of life and death would continue.  
  
"Neo's coming back, isn't he? I liked him. He was nice."  
  
The oracle and her protector turned to regard the young exile program. She didn't yet understand, but she would...eventually. Her shell was swinging her small feet in the air as she sat on the park bench, long braid bobbing as she moved. Bring Neo back? The Oracle wondered and accessed the system. Continuity was rewriting the program to issue a De-ja Vu. A car crash . Interesting. What in the world were the outside machines doing?  
  
The barge carrying the One moved away from the tower. The human male was barely alive after bringing about the defeat of the Smith program. The human would be taken and placed into a pod for transport to Zion. The machines would keep their word - there would be peace between them. Smaller nurse bots flowed down onto the platform to secure the human and monitor his condition.  
  
"Trinity," he suddenly spoke. This information was relayed in an instant across the Machine network.  
  
"The human female, apparently dead, level 101," a maintenance bot reported, spying the other human as it made its rounds. The system paused, waiting for the primary decision making AIs to consult their subprograms. Silently, the barge changed course, circling back around the crash site. Sentinels were already cutting through the twisted metal, exposing the innards of the tower to the blackened sky. A small, spider-like machine launched itself across the distance and landed with a metallic clunk on the inside of the breach. The machine skittered over the human female and sent an assessment back: Impaled by metal support rods, extensive blood loss, severe trauma and subsequent shock. Neural activity: higher functions down, lower barely operational.  
  
The sub-machine awaited orders for exactly .04 seconds. Then it leapt on the human female's chest, snipped away the fabric, stuck two of its manipulators to her skin and administered an electric shock to her system. The machine was joined by a second and then a third similar to itself. The female did not respond to the first pulse so a second was given by two of the sub-machines. This time her heart started beating, circulating what little blood was left in her body. Neural activity still read low so the third machine administered a low level charge through her primary neural interface. The female gasped weakly.  
  
A sentinel squeezed into the space and clipped the metal poles then lifted the body. Blood rained down from her, covering the smaller machines. Quick bursts of electricity cauterized the wounds. The female was placed on the barge and it quickly sped away, towards the smaller, on-site power plant.  
  
The mood in Zion was mixed. The war was over, but at a terrible cost. An estimated third of the population had been lost in the fighting. For those on the last ships of the Zion fleet, the victory was bittersweet. No word came from the Logos. That they, or at least Neo had survived to make it to the machine city, was evident by the very survival of Zion. As the hours passed, the remainders of the Logos', Nebuchadnezzar's and Hammer's crews kept a sort of vigil over the communications channels.  
  
"I take back anything I ever said about Neo being crazy," Roland admitted. His voice was gruff to anyone who didn't know him, but those that did could see he was trying to keep his emotions in check. Even Zen Ghost was having a hard time.  
  
"Hey." Niobe found Ghost on Squiddie cleanup crew in the remains of the docks. The smelters were running full blast, turning the destructive squids into useable materials for the rebuild.  
  
"Hey," Ghost replied as he used a cutting torch to crack the outer casing of a Sentinel. He turned off the flame and pushed back the protective helmet.  
  
"No, word," Niobe told him in answer to his hopeful glance. The pain in his eyes intensified for a moment before he nodded and continued to cut. Niobe accepted this and went to find Morpheus.  
  
He was working on the Hammer with Roland, the Hammer's crew and some Zion dockworkers. They were trying to get the hover pads up and running. If the Hammer could fly, they could use it to possibly lift some of the heavier debris away. He looked up with such hope in his eyes, she wanted to run over and hug him. Extreme self control stopped her from doing just that when she saw the shattered look in his eyes as she shook her head 'no'. She placed a hand on his upper arm and gave it a quick squeeze before diving into the repair work.  
  
Nearly a day after the machines had left, there was still no word from the Logos. But there had been no hope they would survive the machines when Neo had saved them at the last moment. She had to keep hope, she owed them that much and more.  
  
The human male would recover, but his eyes were damaged permanently. The machines fed antibiotics into the red conductive fluid he was suspended in and let his body regenerate. Soon he would be able to travel back to the human city. The female was in a much more serious state. Her injuries had been extensive and the medical machines had had to restart her heart twice on the flight to the power plant. A nurse bot dipped manipulators into her pod, repairing damage done to flesh and bone. The machines had learned much about keeping humans alive in extreme conditions at the beginning of the war but had not practiced this knowledge in years.  
  
In the meantime, the machines would enjoy the extra energy two more humans provided via their pods. The reserve power plant contained animals that had once roamed the planet. They were a much less efficient energy source for reasons which still eluded the best programs. But they were far more docile and required little maintenance.  
  
The nurse bot finished repairing a rupture in the female's intestine and quickly closed the incision with efficient staples. The female could be moved if she lived though the next day.  
  
Neo woke slowly. The first thing he noticed was the bright light hitting his eyes. The second was the steady beep of some sort of machine.  
  
"Am I dead?" he wondered. He was reminded of when he'd woken on the Neb. Only now, Morpheus wasn't there - though Tank and Dozer might be. But they were secondary. All that mattered was her.  
  
"Trinity," he managed to say after three tries. A cheerful voice greeted him, but not the one he was expecting.  
  
"Neo!" He turned his head and a fuzzy shape bounded towards him. Sati? But.hadn't he won? "Hi Neo! I'm glad you're back. I made you a sunrise, would you like to see it?"  
  
"Easy honey, he just woke up," Neo's vision cleared enough that he could see he was in a hospital room of some sort. The Oracle was smoking a cigarette and sitting on a chair near the foot of his bed. Sati was bouncing on her heels next to him. He had a massive headache and the light from outside was hurting his eyes. Sati smiled brightly then skipped off back to where she'd been before: Neo could see a number of rag-dolls strewn across the floor. One wore an approximation of a black suit and red tie. Another wore a black and red dress. Neo watched as Sati picked up another doll, this one wearing a long, shiny coat and sunglasses. Neo's chest constricted as he watched the 'Trinity' doll beat the stuffing out of the 'Merovingian' and 'Persephone' dolls. He couldn't watch anymore and rolled onto his back, to stare at the ceiling. The tile pattern was far too regular.  
  
"I'm in the Matrix," Neo said.  
  
"Bingo," the Oracle replied and took another drag.  
  
"Don't be sad Neo," Sati was again at his side. She pressed something soft to his chest and left to resume playing. Neo turned and saw that 'Seraph' was now beating on the 'Merovingian' doll. Neo looked at what she'd placed in his hands. It was the Trinity doll she'd been playing with. He felt like shattering into a million pieces. It was like losing her all over again. He'd done it twice, he was sure feeling this way a third time would kill him.  
  
"I gave her the you-doll. She started to cry when she saw me playing with you and Smith, so I gave it to her," Sati said conversationally as Seraph executed an amazing flying kick which sent the Merovingian sliding across the floor and under the other bed in the room. Sati scurried after it and resumed her play, but Neo took no notice.  
  
Trinity was there, chest rising and falling softly, a compliment to the doll he had tucked under one arm.  
  
"My God. I am dead."  
  
"Still not too bright I see," the Oracle chided softly.  
  
"I'm not dead."  
  
"That's what I told you before."  
  
"How?" Neo asked, voice cracking. The Oracle stamped out the end of her cigarette and shrugged.  
  
"Not sure really." Neo was going to ask more when the door opened and a doctor bustled in.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Anderson. You're awake." Neo winced, hearing his former name. "You're a very lucky man. You were in quite a car accident." Neo arched an eyebrow and looked at the Oracle. She said nothing and watched as the man bustled around to Neo's bedside and began poking and prodding. "You're wife is even luckier. She's had a very rough time of it. She very nearly didn't make it. She-"  
  
"I think that's enough," Seraph said calmly as he stepped into the room. The doctor looked frightened for a moment before he completed his exam of Neo, took a quick look at Trinity's still form and left. Seraph nodded to Neo and turned to leave. A severe looking women carrying a clip-board blocked his path. She glared at the exiled program for a long moment. Neo squinted, looking at the code instead of the false vision the Matrix presented, and saw that she was a program herself.  
  
"Don't do that," the program ordered before she pushed her designer glasses further up her nose, 'Humph'-ed, turned on her heel and exited. Seraph looked back at the Oracle, who shrugged, and resumed to his post outside the door.  
  
"Continuity," the Oracle gestured at the unknown program. "She is in charge of fixing things in the Matrix, initiating De-ja Vu. She's very busy right now, but don't worry about her. You have other things to worry over I think." The program's eyes slid back over to the bed Trinity occupied.  
  
"Oracle, is she."  
  
"She's alive. As alive as you are, apparently. We thought we might have lost you for good, kiddo. Glad to see you're both made of sterner stuff." She watched as Neo struggled out of bed and across the distance to Trinity's side. He seized her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it and repeating her name over and over, like a mantra.  
  
"Trinity. God, Trinity, please wake up. Please," he pleaded, switching hands so he could stroke her cheek. Her eyes fluttered and her arm drew around the plush toy in the crook of her arm. She turned her head and finally, opened her eyes. Neo cried and kissed her soundly before drawing back so he could properly see her eyes again. She gasped softly and reached out to touch his face.  
  
"Are you real?" she asked as she drew tentative fingers across his cheek. He turned and kissed the inside of her palm.  
  
"Yeah." He grabbed her hands in his. "Yeah. I can't let go." Trinity half laughed, half sobbed as she reached out to hug him. He held her tightly, unsure if this was a dream before dying and unwilling to let it go to waste if it was. She winced and he drew back. She put a hand to her side and grimaced.  
  
"Hurts," she managed. She looked over Neo's shoulder to the Oracle.  
  
"How badly?" she asked. If she was hurt in the real world, she'd feel the pain here. The oracle's face was grim.  
  
"Badly from what I could gather. You're both in pods in the machine city being repaired before you are being sent back to Zion."  
  
"Why?" Trinity asked. She hadn't been expecting to wake up. Or at least she expected to wake up dead. Why would the machines do this? Why heal them? Why not dump them into the sewers like so much refuse.  
  
"Because he is the One. Believe it or not kiddo, the machines owe you big- time and you made a deal." The old woman withdrew another cigarette and lit it while Trinity and Neo thought.  
  
"Peace." Neo said, the pieces sliding into place. Peace meant no more death.  
  
"Bingo," the Oracle confirmed with a smile and gesture of her smoldering cigarette.  
  
"God, I left you," Neo held Trinity to him. He'd been so overjoyed to see her, he hadn't thought of what her being alive actually meant. It was his worst fear: he'd left her and she hadn't been dead.  
  
"No, Neo, no. You had to go," Trinity protested. "You had to, for any of us to have a chance," she whispered in his ear. "You had to. And because you did, we're alive."  
  
"I'm sorry," he repeated again and again. "God what a day," Neo said into her shoulder. Trinity ran a hand through his hair and chuckled, even though it hurt.  
  
"Yes."  
  
The phone rang, startling them both.  
  
"I'll get it!" Sati said cheerfully. She hopped up and grabbed the phone, placing it against her ear. The little girl smiled and nodded then replaced the handset. "That was the big machine. He says you're going home now," she told the two humans. "He says you're being unplugged from here and being taken home." She frowned "He also said Trinity was still very sick, but she was going home anyway." Sati sat next to the Oracle and whispered in the loud voice that children use. "I don't think I like that big machine too much."  
  
"How do we leave?" Neo asked. They had no ship, no operator. Thankfully they had bodies.  
  
"The next call is for you," Sati said cheerfully, swinging her legs. The phone rang and Neo and Trinity exchanged a look.  
  
"You first," Neo said, handing Trinity the handset.  
  
Niobe surveyed the gathering. Neo and Trinity had been declared lost after two days. She'd been torn between wanting to keep watch, and the cold knowledge that they were most likely already dead or they'd been home before now. Their room had become a shrine of sorts. A hundred or more candles were lit in front of their door next to small offerings of painted and carved rocks and handmade fabrics. The stones would have weighed down their death shrouds - had there been bodies - before they were interred in the gardens or cremated.  
  
It was awful. She was happy on the one hand - the war was over. But on the other, they had lost so many good people, not the least of which were the two probably most instrumental players. Link and Zee stood to one side, mourning on their own. She and Sparks stood behind Ghost as he watched people walk by and place candles by the darkened door. Morpheus sat on a fallen piece of rubble beside them, chin in hand. So far he'd refused to give up on his crew. Niobe wondered how long he could keep up hope. She had tried, she really had. But the odds that they were alive had become slimmer and slimmer as the minutes had turned into hours had turned into days. Even now, as her mind tried to wrestle with grief, she held a flame of hope in the deepest part of her soul.  
  
Niobe watched Kid march forward and set a candle by the others. He then turned on his heel and walked towards them - towards Morpheus actually.  
  
"It's not a candle because they've died. It's a guiding light home," he stated. Niobe could have lost it there, but years of self-control stopped her. Morpheus slowly turned to look at Kid. The boy wasn't nearly as young as he'd been mere days before. War did that to a person, Morpheus reflected. He looked at the candle and then back at Kid then nodded solemnly. Kid nodded back and marched off to his duties. Morpheus watched him disappear into the crowd before he stood.  
  
"I should get back to work," he said as he passed. Ghost, who'd watched the exchange in silence nodded and followed, Niobe and Sparks following him in turn.  
  
On the third day after the war ended, they were working on the Hammer when the call came.  
  
"Machines! Machines! Machines at the gate!"  
  
"Shit." Niobe spat as she raced for the controls to the ship, Roland and Morpheus on her heels  
  
"Hold on, they have something," Roland said. The machines were not the usual squiddies they fought. These were much larger machines which looked more like the ones that tended the pod towers, and they seemed to indeed be carrying something. The Machines stopped just shirt of entering the ruined gate, their red optic sensors glowing in the shadowed sewers. The newly repaired radio crackled across the Hammer and in the control room. The whine and clicks of the machine's binary language sounded in the cabin of the Hammer.  
  
"What do they want?" Roland asked irritably.  
  
"I think they want in," Morpheus said, wondering. The machines tentatively floated forward into the docks. They settled down on a clear area close by the Hammer, then rose again, leaving two Matrix-pods behind. A voice like a nightmare, as loud as a thunderclap, resonated in the ruined dock.  
  
"The promise is kept."  
  
Then the machines turned and quickly sped away. Niobe looked at Roland and Morpheus for a fraction of a second before all three tried to scramble out of the small passage into the rest of the ship. Being the lightest and quickest, Niobe was out the door first. She sprinted down the corridor, passing a confused Sparks and Ghost. After seeing three captains run by, Sparks and Ghost followed.  
  
Outside, people were making their way towards the two pods - and the people inside. Niobe grimaced as she picked her way around and across the heavy masonry still on the landing pad. The liquid in the one was not the right color. It was far too dark red and obscured the body inside. The other was more normally colored. The body inside was still wearing most of his clothing. God, it was Neo. Which meant that the other.  
  
Niobe forced the thought away as she sprinted the last meter or so. She touched the pod and then realized she didn't know what to do next. Neo was plugged in and she didn't want to harm him. Looking the pod over she saw a glowing button near where it would have been connected to the tower. She hit it and the plugs disengaged from Neo and coiled like snakes. The hatch opened and the liquid inside rushed out the back, spreading across the ground.  
  
Neo gasped and thrashed instinctively, calling for Trinity.  
  
"My god, Neo." Morpheus exhaled.  
  
"Morpheus. Trinity is badly hurt. They.They brought her back. She-" he fell into a coughing fit.  
  
"Easy Neo," Morpheus cautioned.  
  
"What happened to your eyes?" Roland asked. He could see the telltale marks of a bad burn around the sodden bandage.  
  
"Smith."  
  
"Smith? This happened in the Matrix?" Morpheus questioned.  
  
"No. On the Logos. He was going to kill her. God, is she ok?" He turned around looking for something though how was beyond Niobe. He seemed to find her however and relaxed.  
  
"Help her," he asked, pain coloring his voice. "I can't lose her again. I can't live through it. Not again."  
  
"We'll help her, Neo," Morpheus assured him. The younger man nodded and struggled to get out of the pod. Ghost and Roland stepped forwards to help steady him while he climbed out of the slippery pod. Niobe thanked the powers that be that someone had had the presence of mind to call a medical team onto the scene. She could see them racing across the dock to them. Niobe turned and gaped. Neo unerringly made his way to Trinity's pod and pressed the release tab. Little hisses inside the pod disturbed the heavy red cloud hanging in the pink. The liquid rushed away and Trinity was deposited on the pod's floor. She was mostly naked and a number of angry bruises with nasty looking wounds in their centers stood out on her too pale skin. Fresh, red blood began oozing out from between the staples in her shoulder and abdomen. They could all now see the IV filled with bright red blood connected to her right wrist and the clear IV connected to her left.  
  
"Trinity," Neo called, reaching for her. The woman stirred, and turned towards the sound of his voice.  
  
"Hurts.like.bitch."  
  
"I know Trin. I know. We're home now. Hang on."  
  
"'Kay," she responded sluggishly. What the hell had the machines put her on Morpheus wondered as he Neo and Ghost gently lifted her from the pod and onto the stretcher. The medics ran off, Neo hot on their heels - which Morpheus realized was astounding a full five minutes later when the shock was wearing off. How could he see though that bandage? He shook his head and followed.  
  
"Jesus," Roland said when he found his voice. Niobe shook her head as well and dragged a stunned Ghost behind her.  
  
Tense hours later, the medics finally allowed them to see Neo and Trinity. She was asleep on a small bed, looking healthier then when she'd come in, but still very pale. Neo was sitting by her side holding her hand. It was almost the opposite of before, Morpheus mused. Someone had convinced Neo to shower and had gotten him clean clothing. He wore a clean bandage around his eyes. The medics had said that his eyes had been burned: a live cable had been dragged across his face and they could do nothing. Still, he looked up and seemed to look at each of them in turn before turning back to Trinity.  
  
"The doctors say she's doing well considering what she went through. I've lost my eyes, but that doesn't seem to be a problem," Neo reflected. He kissed her hand. "I can see her now. It was hard, but we're part machine, aren't we?" He sighed heavily. "Anything connected to the mainframe glows like a star. It's beautiful and terrifying. Mechanical things glow, but not as much. I think I can see their electricity, their energy. Matrix-borns have more; I can barely see other people. I don't know how it happened, but it did. It's like seeing everything in code." Neo's voice dropped off as he became lost in thought.  
  
"Neo, what happened?" Morpheus prompted. Neo looked at Morpheus and then back down at his hands holding Trinity's.  
  
"When the One reaches the Source, the war is over. I met it, we made a deal." Neo ran his thumb over the back of Trinity's hand.  
  
"It?" Morpheus asked. He met the source? Hadn't he done that already? Neo shrugged.  
  
"Deus Ex Machina. Hey." Neo leaned in to kiss Trinity's cheek as she stirred.  
  
"Where-?"  
  
"Home. Zion. We're ok."  
  
"Good. Stay?"  
  
"Never letting go," He whispered in her ear. She smiled, he could barely read changes in expression now, but felt more than saw her smile. He waited until her breathing evened out again before he turned back to look at Morpheus.  
  
"Can we talk about this tomorrow?" he asked. The older man nodded. Neo watched them leave then carefully curled next to Trinity on the cot. She shifted slightly with a content sigh as he carefully wound an arm around her waist. "Love you." He kissed her cheek and soon joined her in a deep, untroubled sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: same deal as before. I really wanted to get this out of my system and published in some shape and that means no beta reader. *dodges rotten fruit from grammar!Nazi mussed* and here is where the fic starts getting longish and fueling my muse with ideas for a full length fic. Wheee. Thanks once more to DS who sat through a bunch of late night brain storming sessions. Or rather, IM chats where I pestered her and she sat through it ;) Some retelling of Revs through Neo and Trin's eyes, but I glossed over HUGE parts and parts of Reloaded, 'cause we all know that stuff and I didn't want to do to much (boring)  
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Chapter the Second.

  
They slept for a full day after their return, their damaged and exhausted bodies desperately needing the rest. Trinity woke with a low-grade fever to find Ghost perched on a chair by her bedside. Neo continued to sleep on the cot next to her.

"Looks like I won't be able to kick your ass for awhile dear brother," Trinity teased after watching him silently for a moment. Ghost set his book down and smiled. He started to respond then seemed to think better of what he was going to say, teasing expression growing quickly serious.

"I'm glad you're alive," he told her before the mischievous gleam returned, "Even if you are delusional."

"Ha. Just you wait," she retorted before falling asleep again, exhausted even by this little bit of conversation. The next time she awoke, she wasn't surprised to see Morpheus sitting in the chair. He was speaking in low tones with Neo. Both men told her to go back to sleep, and she did. Waking seemed to take all her energy. Some unfathomable time later she woke again. This time she was surprised to find Niobe sitting at her bedside. Neo was missing however. She panicked for a moment until Niobe's cool hand on her undamaged shoulder restored some of her sense.

"He's just gone with the doctors again. He'll be back soon."

"Ok," Trinity replied, feeling a little foolish. She actually felt a little rested this time and wanted to know what she'd been missing while she'd been asleep. "What's going on in the city? What happened here? What happened after we left?" Niobe sighed and sat back in her chair.

"Right now we're trying to clear away the debris from the docks and the lower levels. Everyone was evacuated to the temple, but we lost almost all of our fighting force, including the volunteers." Trinity and Niobe both winced. "The middle levels were mostly untouched, which is a blessing because the primary and secondary hospital levels were left intact. There is a lot of rubble though. We're still finding bodies." Trinity put a hand to her mouth and swallowed.

"How many?" she asked softly.

"Too many," Niobe told her, voice equally soft. "We lost a lot of people. The...toll isn't done yet, but we think it may even be a third of the city after figuring in everyone who died when the EMP went off by the ships."

Finally, in the calm after the storm, Trinity could feel those deaths. People she knew and admired and had worked with. Soren and his brisk military nature combined with an odd gentleness. Ice, precise and accurate with a weapon, a pool cue or a witty one-liner, Binary's dry sense of humor, Ballard's no nonsense reports, Horus who was infamous for porting games from the Matrix, Tyger who told the worst jokes, Wraith who was a book smuggler extraordinaire: Ghost's fixer. They were all gone and she'd almost joined them. 

She'd been ok with it: Neo had to move on and confront the machines and even then she was grateful that she was the one dying and Neo was unharmed in the crash. Oh, she hadn't wanted to die, but she knew that there had been a job to complete and she wasn't going to make it. She might have been on of the best fighters in the resistance, but she wasn't the One. 

How had she even made it? Her last memory was of Neo's lips burning upon hers while the dull pain all over her body claimed her consciousness bit by bit until she'd felt no more. There'd been nothing until she'd woken in the Matrix, sure she was in hell. But then the Oracle had been there, cigarette in hand, telling her that she'd survived. How? Why her and none of the others when surely she'd been destined for death. She was grateful she was alive, but why?

It wasn't until Neo had wrapped her in a tight hug that she'd noticed she'd begun to cry. She cried quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Each gasping breath hurt her wounds and reminded her further. She felt Neo's own shudders and held him tighter, ignoring the pulling on her stitches. When it was over, she felt calmer. A weight she hadn't even known was there was lifted from her chest and she felt she was breathing easier. But mostly she felt bone-weary. The pain had receded into a dull ache, but she could deal with that. She wiped her eyes a final time then placed gentle fingers against his cheek.

"What did the doctors want?" She asked, trailing her index finger along his jaw line.

"They wanted to see how it was healing. Nothing serious. They're more worried about you right now," he informed her as he brushed an errant lock of hair out of her face. Her forehead was still warm and her cheeks fever-flushed. "Why don't you sleep off this fever, ok?" Trinity nodded.

Hamann visited a few hours later. He, like everyone else on the council, had been busy organizing the cleanup, making sure everyone was accounted for, and trying to control the general chaos. Spontaneous parties would break out, and while they could continue for a little while - heaven knew they needed it - there was much work to be done. Morpheus had asked that neither Neo nor Trinity be hounded by questions until they were more medically stable. Hamann had checked in on the One and his love soon after they'd been release from the medics and had been astounded by the damage. The council had agreed that they should be left alone to heal. But curiosity was getting the better of him, so he sought out the saviors of humanity.

His step was light in case they were sleeping, but Neo turned his head at the sound. He was sitting a little bit away from her bedside as one of the medics silently tended to Trinity.

"Councilor?" Neo asked. Hamann could see Neo's forehead crease as he tried to discern who was in the doorway.

"Have I come at a bad time?"

"No," Neo shook his head. He stood and walked over to the councilor with one backwards look at the medic changing the bandage on Trinity's arm.

"How is she doing?"

"Her fever broke a little while ago." Neo sounded relieved. "The medics say that she'll be able to make a full recovery, but she just needs time."

"Time we have now because of you, son." Hamann put a hand on Neo's shoulder. The One shook his head.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without her. Smith would have killed me."

"Smith? I thought it was Bane?"

"It's complicated," Neo ran a hand through his hair, unsure of where to start. The medic stepped quickly past them and left, bringing Neo's attention to the door. Morpheus was there. He had a very distinctive presence in Neo's strange not-quite vision. His captain had been very considerate Neo though: He hadn't asked what had happened even though Neo knew the questions were burning in his mind. Neo cast a glace back at Trinity sleeping on the bed. "Pull up a chair," he told the older men as he himself pulled a chair next to Trinity's bedside.

"What happened after you left with the Logos," Morpheus prompted after a moment of silence in which Neo seemed to be collecting his thoughts. Neo took a deep breath and began explaining.

"We watched you leave on the Hammer and we tried to start up our own engines. But they wouldn't start. Trinity thought it was a fuse so she went down to try and fix it. I waited for a few moments and then I heard the intercom crackle. Trinity said something about Bane being here and being psychotic. Her ... transmission was cut off suddenly so I grabbed a plasma rifle and went to see what was up. He had her at knifepoint," Neo snarled the slightest bit, fist clenching. Morpheus and Hamann exchanged the briefest of looks as they waited for Neo to continue his tale.

"Trinity told me to shoot them." Neo now sounded ashamed for some reason. The abrupt change in emotion was disconcerting for Morpheus. "But I couldn't do it. Smith pushed her down into the next level and then came at me. We struggled for the gun but only ended up blasting a lot of cables. I was beating him but he grabbed one of the pieces of cable and shoved it into my face." Neo swallowed back some bile. He hated reliving this part.

"Then he was taunting me, and I realized I'd heard that tone before. I followed after him. I couldn't see anything. But then I saw him. He was glowing with this sort of orange light, but he didn't look like Bane. Then I realized he was Smith. Smith had downloaded himself into Bane somehow. He didn't expect me to be able to see him."

"And then?" Hamann asked gently. Neo winced as he remembered.

"I killed him," Neo said very quietly. As powerful as he was in the Matrix, Morpheus and Hamann were forcibly reminded that the One wasn't an invincible unfeeling weapon. Neo cleared his throat and continued.

"I was having visions of the Machine city. So Trinity flew us there. We left the tunnel system at the old South access point and headed East following the power lines. I could see the fields and the tenders, see the power flow through the lines to the city. It was strange, like everything was made of this ghostly gold light," Neo seemed to get lost in the memory for a moment before he resumed his tale.

"We reached their defense perimeter and they fired on us. They were bombs of some type, hundreds of them. I felt them like I felt the squiddies and I knew I could get them to explode and when one off, that set more off. But there were too many, so we had to go over them. Trinity and I could survive the storm but the machines couldn't. So we went over their defense perimeter."

"Over?" Hamann asked, amazed. Neo nodded solemnly. 

"We went over the clouds, broke through. I couldn't see it, but I felt the sun on my face." A hint of a smile ghosted across Neo's features.

"It was beautiful," Trinity joined the conversation suddenly. 

"It was sunrise. Blue, purple and gold and so brilliant, so alive. Beautiful," she sighed. Morpheus was pleased to see his second in command so serene, so taken with the beauty of the world outside of the clouds. It gave him hope again, but he also felt a small pang of jealousy. To see the sky as it truly had been...what a wonder.

"Above the sky? Amazing," Hamann sat back in his seat and waited while Neo helped his lover into a sitting position. Neo sat behind her, supporting her back as much as he seemed to be clinging to her. "And then?" Hamann prompted gently.

"Then we fell," Trinity told him. "The storm knocked out the power. I couldn't get the engines to restart until it was almost too late. We crashed into a tower anyway." Hamann knew the geography around the machine's city - flat plains leading abruptly to tall mountains guarded by a perimeter of massive drones and an army of Squid. The mountains were high, almost reaching the virulent sky themselves. To go up and over mean they'd fallen far.

"How did you survive?" Hamann asked. 

"I didn't." Trinity stated evenly. Neo's arms curled around her tighter, carefully avoiding her injuries.

"But-" Morpheus started to protest. Trinity shook her head.

"No. I died. I've been dead before. I know what it feels like. That was it." Both men who hadn't been there felt a chill race up their backs. Trinity's calm was unnerving. Morpheus immediately thought back to when Trinity had died in the Matrix only to be brought back by Neo. He'd never thought she'd been actually dead before, it was just like how she'd called Neo back. The One couldn't die in the Matrix that way - he knew it was fake deep down in his soul and his mind wouldn't have separated from his body. He'd always imagined Trinity had been in a similar state and Neo had restarted her heart before her mind could realize it was dead. But now, had she actually been dead for those brief moments?

"I don't know what the machines did," Trinity admitted. She couldn't bring herself to meet her captain's eyes, nor those of the councilor. She toyed with the edge of the blanket covering her legs and focused on that. "But there must have been enough of me left for them to somehow save. I woke up in the Matrix in a hospital. They'd placed us in the middle of a car crash to explain away our injuries. The Oracle and Seraph were there." Trinity paused and tilted her head slightly as if she were considering something. "And there was a little child there too."

"Sati," Neo supplied the name, breaking his silence. "She's a program too."

"She is?" Trinity asked, surprised. Neo nodded.

"Neo, after you crashed, what happened to you?" Morpheus asked.

"I made my way up through the tower, found a ledge and met this huge machine. I don't know how the machines are set up, how everything works together, but I knew I was speaking with an important one. It glowed the most, it was almost blinding. I made a deal. I would defeat the Smith program in exchange for peace."

"Couldn't the Machines control the program?" Morpheus asked. Neo shook his head.

"No. Things were different because the system wasn't reset before. Maybe he wouldn't have reset with the system anyway, I don't know. But Smith became something like a virus. He'd taken over every person and program in the Matrix. He was everywhere, no one was left, and he was looking to escape the Matrix and take over the real world machines as well. The machines plugged me into the Matrix and we fought. And I couldn't beat him."

"But, if you couldn't beat him then how-?"

"I couldn't beat him, but I could join him. The Architect said that everything in the Matrix had to be balanced. I disturbed the equation more than expected and Smith was System's attempt to balance it out. When I met the Architect, I was supposed to join with the source somehow and reset the system. He said I carried code which could do it. I let Smith assimilate me because I knew it would balance the system. When he did, the Machines in the real world activated whatever it was the architect said I had and reset the Matrix, destroying Smith and freeing everyone. I- I don't remember much more before waking up in the Matrix. The machine said something and I realized I was back in my own body, but I couldn't move."

"I'm not sure I understand. Who is the Architect?" Hamann asked. Neo could also discern that Morpheus was somewhat puzzled. Neo sighed. Trinity squeezed his arm, reminding him she was there, supporting him.

"Tell us Neo. This is too much for you to carry yourself," Trinity pleaded. She could almost feel his pain. He'd been keeping the full story from them, and maybe that had been the right thing to do before, but he didn't need to anymore.

"Neo, there is peace now. Even if you weren't supposed to end the war, you did. No one is going to fault you for that." Neo nodded and took a deep breath

"The One was another control of the system. I was supposed to end the war, but on their terms," Neo admitted, "But I was given a choice and I didn't choose what they expected me to." And he explained his meeting with the man in white, the nature of the One, and the systemic anomaly. He told them what the Oracle had told him the three times he'd met with her. When he was finished, Morpheus, Hamann and Trinity sat in silence as they digested the information.

"The Oracle lied to us then?" Hamann asked, feeling slightly sick. Was nothing real?

"No," Trinity mused. "I don't think so. You said that she said "the only way to get there is together" and that she wanted what you wanted."

"Yes,"

"If the Architect is order and the system needs balance because he controls it, then she is chaos and I think she's trying to break it. She created the current system and presented it as a solution which the other program accepted. But you said he can't see choices, only variables to be balanced: he couldn't anticipate your choice, but she could. You said she was originally an intuitive program? Maybe she thinks more like us than the other machines suspect."

"Can a machine really think like one of us?" Morpheus mused. Neo remembered Rama-Kandra and his family.

"Yes." Neo told them about Sati and her parents.

"I think you are correct Trinity," Hamann concluded after much though. "I have to believe that she is on our side. Oh, her solution might take awhile, but she seems to realize the truth."

"Machines need us as much as we need them," Neo said, thinking back to his conversation with Hamann on the engineering level. It was actually only week or so before, but it seemed like years. Hamann smiled, remembering the meeting also.

"Exactly."

"And that's probably why she let the Merovingian destroy her shell," Neo mused, "it was a choice she didn't fully understand, but Sati seems to be like her so of course she would help her."

"I think you are the One, Neo. The One the Oracle prophesized to end the war," Morpheus' tone was reverent, "And I think you have done exactly what she wanted you to do."

I was decided that perhaps in this instant, the truth was better off being kept by the four of them. Neo was glad to have shared his burden with someone and felt lighter. now that the weight was gone and he felt he could look at the entire situation a bit more objectively. He rarely left the hospital level and infrequently left Trinity's side. The one time he'd tried to find Morpheus had been like trying to run a gauntlet. Link had been with him to help him get through the parts of Zion he couldn't see very well, and Neo now owed the guy one for getting him out of there. The medics finally decided that Trinity could go home almost two weeks later. It was a half week too long for Trinity who was beginning to go slightly stir crazy from having to look at the same four walls and having medics insist on helping her do anything. They decided to go home in the dead of Zion's night, when the fewest people would be around.

The walk home was a little slow, but pleasant and the two enjoyed one another's silent company. They stopped just short of their room and stared. Prayer candles and offerings were still surrounding the entrance, spilling out into the walk and almost cutting off traffic.

"Wow." Trinity's eyebrows arched up as she surveyed the area. A path to their door had been cleared by Sparks and Ghost who were now lounging by the railing.

"You should have seen it before we got here," Sparks said as he carefully mimed carefully picking his way though a field of candles and rocks, hopping over some, skirting around others and catching fire. Trinity rolled her eyes.

"Thanks. When did this all happen?" She and Neo carefully made their way to their door and opened the hatch. Neo leaned against the wall and Trinity leaned against him as they waited for the room to air out a bit.

"It started about a day after we hadn't heard from either of you," Ghost told her. "Some believed you'd died, some were praying for a safe return. I'm glad you're home. Both of you," Ghost said sincerely, knowing Trinity would understand his full meaning. Trinity stepped away from Neo to give her brother a hug.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me," she told him, knowing that he would understand even as she had. Ghost smiled somewhat sadly.

"Want to come in?" Trinity offered. Both men shook their heads.

"I just wanted to make sure you got home and were ok."

"Thank you,"

Ghost nodded. Sparks gave Trinity a quick hug and clasped hands with Neo.

"And don't either of you ever do that again or I swear I'll kill you myself, ok?" Sparks shook a playfully irate finger at them both before striding off with a superior air. Trinity and Ghost shared a smirk.

"Goodnight guys," she called after them. She turned to Neo to find him smiling a little. "what?"

"Nothin'"

"What?" she asked again, pushing aside the door. Neo followed after, hands stuffed in his pockets. He shrugged.

"You sound happy is all. It's so good to hear you sound that way. You haven't for so long. Neither of us has, really." Neo shut the door behind him, watching as Trinity's softly glowing form sat on their bed and toed off her boots. "God, Trin," his voice broke a little. He'd almost lost her for good. She held out her arms and he went to her, hugging her as fiercely as she held him. He rolled them onto the bed, not caring that his boots were still on.

"I'm doing a lot of this," he admitted. "I'm not sure I'll ever be over losing you." She nodded and he felt a slight dampness on his neck from her own tears. She wasn't over being almost dead for good either. "Eventually, we'll get past this and be able to hold a conversation for more than five minutes without one of both of us breaking down," he declared and was rewarded with a small laugh. "Fewer tears, more laughter," he promised. She nodded.

"This is the most I've cried in my entire life I think," she admitted. Well, she had a damn good reason, she mused ruefully. Her injuries ached so she shifted to try and find a more comfortable position to lie in. Neo took off his boots and tossed them to the floor before carefully wrapping himself around her.

Trinity soon fell asleep, lulled by the sounds of a living, breathing Zion and comforted by Neo's soft breath on her neck. She woke feeling fully rested for the first time in years. 'Daylight', pale in comparison to her memory of the real thing but welcome nonetheless, streamed around the curtains hung on the tiny windows of their room. She immediately felt that Neo wasn't by her side as she stretched languidly on the bed and wondered where he'd gone to. A quick gaze at the clock revealed that she'd slept in well past lunch hour and into the afternoon. She gingerly sat up, mindful of her stitches and bruises. They began to ache as her mind and body woke up more fully. She wondered where the painkillers she'd been given had gone to and only then noticed the vial of pills next to a cup of water left by the bed. She made a mental note to thank Neo when he came back from where ever he'd wandered off to.

Trinity silently changed clothes, tossing the outfit she'd fallen asleep in into the hamper and put on a light pair of pants, a loose shirt and the beat up pair of moccasins she wore when they were on leave in the city. Suddenly her room felt too empty, too small, she needed to be outside doing something. She knew they'd never let her help with the clean-up, but she'd been bed ridden for more than a week and needed to wander. She padded over to the door and twisted the handle, pleased that the muscles in her arm didn't twitch as painfully as she'd expected them to. She closed the door behind her, turned and nearly jumped out of her skin. Trinity froze as hushed whisper went through the small crowd gathered outside. For a moment she thought Neo might have returned home, but then she caught her own name in reverent whispers.

"Neo's not here," Trinity told them quietly. A few people nodded which confused her slightly. If they knew he wasn't here, then why were they hanging around? Before, the people had always left Neo alone after awhile and had never hung around their room after the initial rush when they were on leave. Obviously that had changed. Trinity sighed and made her way through the crowd. The people parted for her which was strange since they'd never really paid attention to her before. She shook her head slightly and continued down the walkway, intent on getting to the upper levels of Zion where Morpheus would no doubt be. Neo would most likely be there as well she reasoned. She waited a moment for the elevator to arrive then entered and turned to hit the button for the floor she wanted. Her hand paused over the buttons for a moment as she gazed back down the walkway. A few of the people from the crowd seemed to have followed her. Unnerved, Trinity hit the button which would take her to the top level of the city and exhaled as the doors quickly shut and the elevator shuddered to life. 

The elevator slowed to a halt and the doors clanked open. Neo was on the other side.

"Trinity! I was just coming to see if you were awake yet," Neo explained.

"I was just coming to find you." She stepped off the elevator and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for leaving the pills nearby." Neo smiled. "How are you doing?" she asked, lightly touching his bandage at his temple. Neo's hand covered hers.

"I'm ok. It- tingles a little. The doctors say it's healing and that's good though. I think I can see more than I was able to even a week ago. If I stay around power lines everything is much clearer. I've been working on the Hammer all morning." Neo let their hands drop and ghosted his fingers over the wounds in Trinity's sides and on her arm. They were oddly mottled spots in her ghostly blue image. "Some places are better than others. Some people are better than others. Sometimes I think I'm ok and then I'll run into something. But it's amazing that I can see anything."

"What's it like?"

"It's like viewing the Matrix in code. In 01, everything was orange and gold. Here everything is blue and green. People like us have little currents of gold around our plugs."

"Sounds pretty,"

"I suppose. I'd rather see you normally though." She squeezed his hand. She wished he could see her normally too. It seemed to really pain him to be unable to see anything the way she could and she couldn't really blame him. "How are you feeling?

"A little achy. The drugs are kicking in and it's getting better. What's going on up here?"

"Lots of clean up. The dock is pretty much ruined and half of gate three is gone."

"Gone?" Trinity's eyes widened. How could half of a gate be gone? They were enormously massive things. She'd been impressed anything so huge could exist when she'd first been unplugged and they'd always represented something strong and enduring for her.

"Gone. They had to cut the counterweights to let the Hammer through." Neo smiled. "Actually, Kid did it."

"Kid?" Trinity arched an eyebrow. "Good for him."

"We just got the Hammer back up in the air and are using it to lift some of the bigger pieces up and out of the way." Trinity slipped her hand into his as they began walking towards the outer stairs to the dock. The main elevator shaft had been destroyed in an attempt to slow the machines and even now work crews were clearing away the debris so access could be restored.

They continued on upwards, passing other people busy rewiring and rewelding or meeting in groups to decide on what to fix next. A number of people looked up in surprise as they passed and scurried out of their way. Trinity though people were acting very bizarrely but forgot all about them when she saw the docks. The Hammer sizzled in the air as it lifted up a large piece of what once was the central command post with heavy hooks and chains. The ship carefully maneuvered to one side and set the structure down. Immediately people with plasma torches got to work cutting the metal down for reuse. The Hammer moved to another part of the docks and lifted some large masonry. The ship sailed out the half ruined gate and dropped the chunk of concrete into the sewer before returning for another load. They were making good progress clearing the lading pad of the dock. A large portion of it was ruined by a gaping hole, but most of it was littered with the metal debris of dead machines, broken APUs and crumbling concrete. Trinity watched as a group of terribly young looking APU corps men coaxed one of the massive units back to life. The operator began guiding the limping unit towards one side of the cave where other damaged exoskeletons were being repaired.

"What are you doing out of bed," a deep voice resounded. Morpheus strode over to them, his serious expression giving way to a happier one. He was glad Trinity was up and about, but she sure as hell wasn't going to be doing any lifting or carrying. Morpheus mopped the sweat from his forehead and tucked the rag back into his pocket. Trinity's expression had already shifted to a more defiant one and Morpheus chuckled. He held up a stalling hand.

"I know. You're fine. You made it all the way up here yourself and you are no longer in the hospital." Morpheus affixed her with a stern gaze "But you are not helping us do anything."

"I won't."

"Good." Morpheus turned back to the Hammer lifting and carrying loads with the aid of numerous ground crews. "Once we get more of the dock in order we're going to go out and see what's left of the other ships," he said in a softer tone.

"The ones hit by the EMP?" Trinity asked. Morpheus nodded. "Roland and his crew say that some of them may be salvageable, and definitely pieces are, but Commander Locke is reluctant to have the Hammer leave the city." Trinity and Neo nodded. That sounded like Locke. "Once we have the ability to go to broadcast level, the Council wants to know what is going on in the Matrix. But we have a lot of rebuilding to do before that happens."

"Will we have people to crew any ships we salvage?" Trinity asked.

"I've been thinking about that. We have a lot of kids in the Academy, but most are still too young to serve on ships. The APU corps was hit pretty badly, so I don't know if we'll get any help from there. Some of the Academy students volunteered to help the Corps hold the dock. We lost a lot of people and I suspect some might decide to help rebuild them rather than the fleet." Morpheus shrugged. Both parts of Zion's defense were needed. After speaking with Neo, he realized that the peace could end and while he would personally do whatever was needed to keep the peace, he knew that it would be stupid not to rebuild Zion's defenses. "Roland suggested that some of the Academy teachers and other retirees come out and help the newbies find their places." 

Trinity's lips thinned. In this war, there were very few retirees. She did a quick mental count and decided that there were about thirty people who had served with the fleet for any real length of time left alive - and that number could be lower since some might have died in the fighting. Twelve of them were the survivors of the Hammer, Nebuchadnezzar and Logos. The face of the fleet would change dramatically. Well, once they had a fleet again. Neo touched Trinity's wrist lightly.

"Want to get something to eat? We should probably check your bandages too." She nodded. Morpheus waved them off and rejoined the crews slowly bringing order back to the city. Trinity was feeling a little tired by the time they got back to the elevators. They had to wait for awhile to get on one. Some sort of shift change was taking place and a lot more people were out and about, trying to get where they were going. Trinity didn't mind waiting, she wasn't in a hurry. What she did mind were some of the looks sent their way. When the whispers started again she practically dragged Neo on to the next elevator headed down. The ride down was fairly uncomfortable. She could feel the eyes of almost everyone in the compartment on her back. Neo rubbed her undamaged shoulder trying to alive some of the tension she was radiating. He thought it was helping a little but she still practically bolted when the doors opened on their level.

"Trin! Hey, what's wrong?" She looked around and pulled him aside, out of the light pedestrian traffic.

"Ever since I woke up this morning, it's like people have been staring at me. I don't really like it. "

"Well, we did help save the city. I bet Morpheus and Niobe and everyone else is getting the same treatment," he reasoned. "I am, but then they've always done it to me," he tried to joke. He was rewarded with a small smile.

"I guess, I'm just used to you being the celebrity," she quipped and kissed him He smiled and they continued on their way home. When they were in sight of their room Trinity groaned softly.

"What?"

"When I left earlier there was a whole group of people camped outside. They were whispering about me. A couple of people were following me. It was ...creepy."

"Oh."

"Oh?" she stopped and Neo stopped with her. He looked sort of sheepish and ran a hand through his short hair. This was not good, Trinity thought.

"I was being followed and it was getting kind of annoying. And I know I shouldn't have done it because I know they all meant well, but I was having...issues getting around and I was getting some important replacement parts and-"

"Neo, what?"

"I kind of yelled at a group of them."

"What?" Trinity's voice was flat. Neo didn't yell.

"Well I didn't really yell. I kind of told them yeah, I'd helped save the city, but everyone on the Hammer was responsible for keeping the Squids at bay while I dealt with the machines. And I kinda said that I wouldn't have even lived to get to the machine city if you hadn't been there to help me fight off Smith and then fly us to the machine city and-"

"And?"

"AndIkindasaidthatyoudiedtryingtogetusthereandthatthemachinesbroughtyoubackbecauseyouweren'ttotallydeadandthatIwouldhavediedmonthsagoifyouhadn'tcalledmeback."

"Oh."

"Uhm, so if they're following you around it's probably my fault." Neo winced a little. "I'm sorry." Trinity took his hand and resumed the walk home.

"It's ok," she said after a moment. "They'll get over whatever and go back to worshipping you," she tried to joke a bit. She was glad the odd behavior was explained somewhat, but she still didn't get it. Neo was the One, she was just another unplugged-resistance fighter.

"Gee, thanks," Neo dead panned. He really didn't like the worshipful way some people treated him - the way some did seem to worship him. He was really just another guy. Ok, well maybe he was kidding himself; maybe there was something different about him. But that something, he knew now, wasn't what they thought it was.

Neo didn't particularly like Locke, but his attitude was almost welcome after he was met by a mob of people wanting his protection or blessing. Trinity groaned softly and Neo made out a small sea of people by their door. He felt like groaning too. 

The people stood as the couple approached. What struck him the most was the reverent silence as the people parted before them. As they passed, tentative fingers reached out to touch his shoulders, the hem of his sweater. Whispers started and for the first time Neo heard Trinity's name with his own - the One and his Protector. Oh, boy.

Neo brushed hands away when they looked like they'd touch Trinity's injuries and pushed her ahead of him with gentle fingers on her lower back when her confident stride faltered. They made it to their door and he quickly opened the portal. Trinity slipped inside as soon as there was enough room and Neo followed, closing the door quickly behind him and leaning on it as if to ensure that no one outside would get in. The looked at one another for a moment before Trinity spoke.

"That was weird." Neo was surprised by her body language. He'd never seen her look as rattled as she did right now.

"God, Trin. I'm sorry. I feel like I set them on you."

"No, it's ok. You didn't do it on purpose. Besides, they'll get involved with the clean up and their lives will go on and they'll forget, right?" She asked hopefully. Trinity knew she wasn't a people person. Even as a kid she'd never liked large groups, preferring to spend time with smaller groups of close friends or on her own. Aside from dances in Zion or the short semester of classes she'd attended at the academy when she'd been unplugged, the largest group of people she'd had to be around for any length of time in the past twelve years had probably been nine. 

Neo looked miserable and it made her heart ache. She hugged him to let him know it was ok, he'd done nothing wrong, and resolved to not let the people bother her. Maybe they'd get the point and leave her alone, but even if they didn't she had to get over her own hang-ups for Neo's sake. 

"Help me change these bandages?" she asked. Neo nodded and helped her take off the shirt. Taking her shirts off was more painful than putting them on, but the task was quickly done with Neo's assistance. She had him get new rolls from the supply she'd been given and then undid the small metal clips holding them in place. She handed the end to him and he carefully began to unwind the fabric while she held her arms out of the way. The outer layers of the bandages on her torso were clean, which was good, but the gauze under them were covered in blood. Not so much that she was worried, but enough that she was reminded of how far she still had to go. She dabbed a clean scrap of gauze with the antiseptic wash and handed Neo carefully cleaned the area. She gritted her teeth and tried not to react but the cool liquid still drew little hisses from her as the liquid went to work. 

It took four strips of gauze to clean the dried blood away from the wounds on her front and their counterparts on her back. Trinity was glad Neo couldn't see her normally as she was one big bruise from about her hips to just under her breasts. The wound on her right was higher than the bruise extended under her bra on that side. She considered going without for awhile, but decided it probably would be just as if not more painful. She reattached the clips and they began unwinding the bandages from around her arm. Her arm went faster as there were only two puncture points for Neo to clean and despite her use of that arm, it was bleeding less than the other ones.

When they were finished, Trinity felt ill and tired. She moved onto Neo's lap seeking comfort there.

"I don't like this. It's better than being dead, but I still don't like this," she admitted. She didn't like feeling sick and didn't want to be helped. Well, she supposed Neo could give her a hand now and then, but no one else.

"Are you feeling better than you did yesterday?"

"Yes. I'm glad to be out of that ward, but I think being stuck here might be just as boring," Trinity realized with annoyance. The walk to the docks had been more draining than she'd anticipated and she didn't want to be bothered with going through all those people hanging around outside. She glared through the door at them. Didn't they have a city to rebuild? Why were they wasting their time bothering hanging around outside her door like she was some sort of celebrity? She wondered if Matrix superstars felt this way when they were being hounded by the Paparazzi. 

"Well, Roland said that a lot of his computers are going to need some software repair. Maybe I can sneak a few disks past Morpheus."

"That'd be nice, thanks."

"If Morpheus had his way, I'd be sitting around here all day. It took an hour to convince him that I could help."

"Hmm," Trinity murmured sleepily. Neo carefully maneuvered her onto the bed and covered her with a light quilt. They both had a lot of recovering to do and he was grateful for the time to do it in. he wondered what they'd find when they did eventually go back to the Matrix. Would he still be able to bend reality the way he had been able to? What about the Agent programs? If they went in and tried to unplug people, would the agents stop them? He shook his head to clear it. Those were questions for another day.

  
The playground seemed to have sprung up overnight. The residents thought it was odd that there was a small playground where once they were sure there had been nothing but a couple of park benches and cracked pavement in the void between their apartment buildings. Now there was a small oak tree, a set of swings, some see-saws and a jungle gym amid reddish woodchips. Some boys played four-square while their friends watched. A group of girls plaited their Barbie's hair as they sat in the shade of the jungle-gym. A dark girl with a long braid was jumping rope with two new friends.

_Cinderella, dressed in yellow  
Went upstairs to kiss a fellow  
Made a mistake  
Kissed a snake  
How many doctors  
Did it take? 1,2,3,4..._

The girls stopped twirling the rope as a shadow fell across the jumper. The little girl stopped jumping and looked up.

"Hello," she said pleasantly to the woman with the clipboard. The woman didn't look happy.

"You changed this." 

"Yes. I wanted to play with my new friends. Would you like to play with us?"

"No. It will be changed back."

"Why? It's nice here now."

"It MUST be changed back."

"Why?"

"This place is not part of the programming. It causes problems with their memory.

"Come on Sati, lets go play someplace else," the little girl with curly red hair grabbed her playmate by the hand and tried to drag her away from the unfriendly stranger. Their other friend was already waiting for them by the other girls sitting under the jungle-gym.

"Ok." Sati looked back over her shoulder once then ran to join the other girls.

"I will get her to change it back tomorrow, but what is the harm of letting this place stay?" Seraph stepped into view. Continuity fumed.

"Exile," she sniffed, "There are rules here. There is a plan at work. Everything had its place and its purpose. This place is not in accordance with the plan. It must be removed." Why couldn't the exile program see her reason? Surely there was some flaw in Seraph's programming. This place was illogical. The Exile stood his ground.

"This place is realistic. It will not cause you difficulty. I will let her keep this place and rebuild it if you reset the area. Think, how many memories will you have to alter and erase if this area is changed once a day?"

Continuity glared at the exile.

"We shall see."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Chapter 3 contains some sex, So if you've been ignoring the r rating, hey, that's your problem.  
Huge, gigantic thanks to DS for offering all sorts of lovely crit and ideas and encouragement. Massive thanks to Centaur for adding her own ideas and comments and for letting me steal _Violas._ (You should all go read her story. it is most excellent!) Schnugs to the Hardline in general, 'cause you people rock. ^_^

CH3 begins covering some longer periods of time so, just FYI, they don't do all of this in a week.

This chapter has some rated R material. (5 pages in or so) 

Skip it if it isn't your cup of tea. the rest of the chap and most of the fic is pg-13

Chapter the Third  
~*~*~

"My god," Niobe breathed as she surveyed the wreckage before her. The Hammer hovered in the middle of the battlefield. Despite the temperature being somewhat regulated, Niobe felt a chill: it was like walking through a graveyard. She'd never much cared for graveyards even in her former life. She remembered going to her grandmother's graveside to see her interred into the ground; it had been the end of November and there was frost on the ground. The cemetery had been utterly silent except for the minister's somber words and her aunt's sniffles. Her mother had remarked how peaceful it had been, but Niobe had found the utter silence and stillness horrible and had bolted back to the car after the flowers were placed on the coffin. This place reminded her of that. She wanted to leave, but they had a mission to accomplish. 

The broken fleet ships lay where they'd fallen. The twisted hulk of metal at the entrance of the tunnel was the right size to be the Gnosis. A little further in a few of the ships had survived their crashes only to be torn apart by sentinels. It took Niobe a moment to recognize the Novalis: half the ship was simply gone. A few ships looked as though they'd been gutted by fires, and Niobe couldn't tell which ships they'd been.

"We were at the front of the fleet," Roland began narrating the carnage, "The Hammer is- Was the largest ship. We were going to take the brunt of the attack. The Brahma was just behind us when the Cauduceus' EMP blew. The Icarus, Novalis, Manticore, Cerebus, and Ramases went down in the blast. The Manticore blew when she hit the tunnel wall," Roland pointed to a blackened area of the cave and a pile of wreckage that couldn't possibly have been a ship once. "The Manty's backup generators exploded right after and the Voltaire took a hit. That's when the Squiddies showed up. We got the word to run and we did. The Gregori was right behind us, so was the Titan. The squids killed the Titan and attacked the Gregori. Last thing was saw of the fleet was the Gregori crashing into the ground as the squids ripped off her hovers." Roland shook his head sadly. The survivors were silent for a moment, remembering and mourning friends lost. 

"Where did you find the Caduceus?" Morpheus asked. Roland gestured to the far side of the cavern. 

"Over there. It was ripped in half, but we found Bane under a console. Everyone else was dead." Roland's voice was hard. He'd been told the truth about Smith and Bane and after a week of mulling it over had come to terms with it. He remembered Smith from the Matrix runs as the most tenacious agent and could accept that the agent had taken over the human. Bane had, in his opinion, been a dumb-fuck, but he hadn't deserved that fate.

The truth had stunned every pod-born survivor. Being taken over by an agent was something that happened to people still plugged in, or them in their worst nightmares - not in real life. But, at the same time, they were all glad Bane hadn't been another Cypher.

"Let's set down over there," Roland suggested, pointing to a clear area. Niobe nodded and guided the ship in to land. 

The crews were being aided by members of the APU corps, about twenty people in all. It made for rather cramped quarters in the Hammer's decks, but this was a short trip and they wouldn't have to endure it for long. The lone APU unit Lock had insisted go with them, clanked out of the lift and the operator scanned the area, looking for any machine activity. The other humans fanned out, surveying the wreckage. 

Roland, Neo and Trinity were carefully picking over the wreckage near the Novalis. Trinity and Roland were discussing the best way to cut the ship lose from the piping which had crumpled over part of the ship upon impact, when Neo exclaimed "Shit!"

"What?" Roland asked, looking over at the still man. Neo was staring down at a large piece of metal.

"There's a squid under there," he said, pointing.

"You can tell?" Roland asked.

"Yes. I can see it. It's orange and not moving."

"Shit," Roland echoed and called the other humans over. Morpheus and Link slid down the piping after Ghost and Niobe, the rest of the crew close by.

"We got a live squid trapped under there."

"How do you know that?" Niobe asked. Roland jerked a thumb at Neo.

"He's the One."

Link hefted his plasma cutter "This thing can work just as well as a rifle. Or do you want me to call Loki over with the APU?

"We can't kill it," Neo said.

"Why not, it's a squid," Link asked.

"If we kill, it could start the war again," Morpheus said. The humans looked at one another and took an unconscious step back from the trapped machine as if to distance themselves from the idea of restarting the war.

"Leave it then." Roland said.

"No, we should free it and let it go back," Niobe said. Leaving it could be just as bad as killing it. Roland looked at Morpheus who was nodding agreement with Niobe. He sighed and had AK head back over to Loki with a message to hold his fire.

"If it doesn't know the war is over we are dead. Link, you hold that cutter. The rest of us are going to move this piece of scrap," Roland directed. The humans nodded and moved around the metal, gaining a grip. Link took a few steps back to get a clear shot.

"Count of three," Roland commanded. "One. Two. Three!" The humans lifted and shoved, sending the piece of scrap off to one side. Link tensed on the cutter controls but the machine didn't leap out of the hole. Neo stepped forward and then crouched down beside ditch.

"It's still alive but I think it's low on power. Link, give me the power pack off that cutter," he said.

"Wait, what?"

"Give me that power pack. I am going to give it a recharge," Neo explained calmly. Link looked back at him in shock.

"Give it to me." Neo commanded and Link moved to comply.

"Hold on," Roland stopped the operator.

"Neo what the Hell do you think you are doing?" the Captain demanded. Neo looked at the dull glow of the downed squid and then over at Trinity before looking back at Roland.

"We were practically dead and they brought us back. We need to do the same for them," Neo explained very evenly. He was looking at Trinity again. "I owe them. Link?"

"Right." Link powered down the cutter and tossed the unit to Neo. He caught it easily and then stepped into the depression next to the Squid. One of its manipulators was gone and it had a dent in its casing, but he could still see the spark of orange deep in its core. Neo grabbed one side of it and shifted the machine over, exposing more of its underbelly. The humans around him tensed, but the squid did nothing. Neo found the port he was looking for and plugged the power unit's connection points to it as best he could. He sat back and wondered how the hell he knew what to do. Trinity stood behind him and offered a hand out of the ditch. He took it and watched as the orange form of the squid grew brighter.

"Is it working?" Niobe asked, unable to see what Neo could. Neo nodded.

"We might want to take a step back, just in case," Morpheus suggested. Most people took three or for steps back. The squid shuddered to life with an electronic whine, ruby eyes luminous once again. Its undamaged limbs twitched and then flexed sinuously before planting their manipulators on the ground to lift its body up. The undamaged legs disconnected the damaged one and the metal fell to the ground with a clank. The machine twisted around, looking at the people surrounding it as another leg extended a communication dish for an instant. The machine retracted the dish and then used that appendage to disconnect the plasma cutter's power source. It held the unit in front of Neo who took it back. The squid then launched itself in the air and sped away.

Roland let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "Please tell me you can't see any more of those things?" he asked Neo. Neo looked around but couldn't see any more bright spots of orange. He shook his head. Roland nodded and then turned on the crews.   
"Ok people, show's over! Back to work!

  
Not a single ship had come away unscathed. The ship closest to being intact was the Novalis. They determined she could fly if a few of her pads were given minor repairs and if her remaining generator was given a kick-start every so often. On the other ships, a few hover-pads and some internal computers could be saved as could some of the structural elements of the ships. In the end, they cut off what they could, loaded the Hammer and moved its backup generator to the Novalis. The two ships limped back into Zion almost a day later with their report.

The exhausted crews disembarked as the dock and build crews moved forward to unload the Hammer's bays. Locke strode forward to speak with Niobe, Roland and Morpheus. Trinity however just wanted to take a long bath and sleep, preferably with Neo. Even though she'd been helping the welding crews rebuild the Dock's Command and Control for a week, Morpheus had been reluctant to let her join the salvage team. Trinity felt slightly guilty about not wanting to stay around to help unload the Hammer, but her sides were twinging uncomfortably and she suspected she'd popped a stitch. Neo disembarked and stood next to her. He'd had a rough time navigating the sewers, since he was almost completely unable to see anything. His frustration was tempered a bit by the fact that he'd been able to see the ruined ships and could even discern which pieces were the least damaged. Still, he'd slipped and fallen a few times and had a number of scrapes to show for it.

"Trinity, Neo," Morpheus came over to them while Locke continued to speak with the other captains. "You've done more than enough. Go have yourselves looked over by a medic and then go home and sleep. That's an order." He turned and left before either could protest.

"You're walking stiffly," Neo commented as they made their way home. "Don't think I didn't see you wince when you shoved aside that squid." Trinity continued walking a few steps before she answered.

"I think I popped a stitch or two," she admitted.

"Trinity..."

"I was going to have it looked at," she snapped testily, immediately regretting it. Neo had had a worse time than she had, and he didn't deserve to be snapped at anyway. "I'm sorry," she apologized. Neo sighed.

"I know."

They dropped their things off at their room and silently made their way to the hospital level to endure the medics. After being restitched, bandaged and scolded by the doctors, they headed back home, trying to ignore the looks and occasional follower as they passed. Something was bothering Trinity, Neo decided. He closed the door behind them and sat on the bed, waiting for her to speak. She'd tell him what she was thinking when she was ready. He understood her since he was the same way; something no one else he'd ever been in a relationship had been able to understand. He sighed and toed off his shoes and sprawled on the bed. He heard her boots drop to the floor a few minutes later, the muffled clank drawing him out of a doze. The cushion on the bed dipped as she sat down. He rolled onto his side and watched her. Her elbows were on her knees, shoulders tight and hunched. He moved to sit behind her and hugged her from behind, burying his face in her neck. She relaxed marginally.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." He forgave her again, concerned by her earlier attitude and now by her silence. Before, he wouldn't have asked. But things were different, now.

"Are you ok?" 

"No," she admitted with a small, rueful laugh. He moved his hands to her shoulders, thumbs pressing against the knotted muscles he found there. She sighed ever so slightly after a moment and Neo smiled as he felt her relax a little. 

"Can I do anything?"

"This is pretty good." She smiled a little over her shoulder at him, relaxing more into his hands. He dropped a light kiss onto exposed skin and continued to massage her back, not minding doing this in the least. Neo was a shoulder and neck man. Oh, he liked breasts just as much as the next guy, but there was something wonderful about the grace and elegance of a woman's neck and shoulders that made him want to touch and taste and compose (really bad) poetry. When they'd first met at that seedy club, she could have had him on the power of her strapless top alone.

A moment passed and he was about to ask her what was wrong when she spoke again. "I miss you." She turned around in his arms and he moved back on the bed so she could sit in his lap. She brushed gentle fingers through his hair before resting her head on his shoulder. "I miss making love with you."

"I know," he said, trying hard to keep the note of need out of his voice, but failing. The last time they'd been together had been the evening of the temple gathering before they had left to go meet with the oracle. It was more than a month since he'd really touched her - all of her.

"I want you, but I've felt so awful. I've been so tired. I want love to you but I can't and it's driving me insane," Trinity told him. "I need you." This was the first time she'd ever said that she needed him, she realized. Usually she choose to show him how much she needed him without words, she wasn't good with them anyway. Trinity felt a little guilty. The last time he had said he'd needed her, she'd run away from the crowd of people seeking Neo's blessing. She had let them unnerve her and she had run away from him instead of staying beside him. 

Neo was a little stunned by her admission. He knew she loved him, but was amazed she actually needed him as much as he needed her. He wanted her too, but at the same time the memory of feeling the cold metal biting into her warm flesh was very fresh in his mind. He was reminded of her injury every time he saw he walk a little stiffly or her shoulders hunch in pain.

"I don't want to hurt you." Neo had been terrified of touching her in any way when she'd left surgery. It had taken almost ten minutes for him to even work up the nerve to gently hold her hand in his. 

"Not being with you hurts more." He kissed her forehead, her fluttering eye lids, her nose and finally her lips as she turned her face towards his. The chaste kiss was sweet but a little unsure, reminding them both of the first one they'd shared in the silent wake of the EMP blast. Their lips met again as they tried to reconnect, to rebuild and reinforce their bond. Neo's hands found their way under her shirt and rested gently against the bandage there; it was a reminder of what they'd almost lost. They kissed again, now expressing the pure joy of simply being with one another in this certain world instead of the uncertain next one.

He began to lift her shirt away slowly, giving her time to stop him. She didn't, instead leaning into his hands when they found her breasts. Neo paused there for a moment, reacquainting himself with her soft skin. He teased her with the lightest of touches, drawing a tiny moan from her. He abandoned them for a moment while he drew the layers of clothing she was wearing over her head. Static electricity crackled in the air as he tossed her shirt in the general direction of the laundry hamper. Errant locks were alive with energy. He smiled as he brushed a few clinging strands out of her face and behind her ear. She lifted his shirt off and didn't even bother to aim for the hamper, instead concerned only with holding him as close as possible, relishing the feel of his bare chest against her. They kissed languidly, discovering one another again. Trinity's fingertips grazed the skin of his shoulders, circled around the plugs on his upper chest and flicked playfully at his nipples before they trailed down towards his pants.

Her feet, still in their heavy boots, brushed his calves and he stilled her hands. He stood with her then carefully pushed her back down to the bed and removed each boot. She watched him and held out her arms for him to return to her when he was done with the task, but he didn't join her. Instead he began to undo the fastenings of her pants, one closure at a time. When he'd finished he pulled them off with agonizing slowness.

He took a moment to look at her, to learn her new image and reconcile it with his memory. She was a being of living light-blue light with little pricks of gold now. He ran his fingers over her, mapping out every valley and peak he knew so intimately well, and though it was beautiful, wished he could see ivory skin and ebony hair. Neo supposed it was ironically fitting that now she was entirely the shade of her eyes. He undid his own pants much faster than he'd undone hers and joined her on the bed. He half crawled on top of her, his body reacting to hers as though they'd never been parted.

She gasped a little, and it wasn't in pleasure. He froze, knowing he'd hurt her and hating himself utterly for causing her pain. He began to sit up but her gentle hands were suddenly strong, clutching at him. She drew herself up with him and crawled back into his lap.

"Where did I hurt you?" he asked. He needed to know. She shook her head and tried to entice him back down with soft kisses. He repeated his question.

"The ribs," she finally said softly. He was a little heavy and the pressure had peaked into pain suddenly. Neo held her for a moment and Trinity feared he was going to stop this. Instead, he lay back down, this time pulling her on top. She straddled him and leaned down to kiss him. His hands went back to running over her breasts and shoulders as they devoured one another. One hand left its explorations of her upper body and began trailing lower. She gasped when he touched her, and her mouth left his as she panted into his shoulder. 

Trinity had been tightly wound in her frustration and Neo could tell she was now coming undone rapidly by the small urgent sounds she was making. He stopped for a moment and caught her lips when she turned to look at him with glazed eyes. He pushed her hips upwards and she went with the motion, taking more of her weight on her forearms. Neo shifted slightly under her and she sank onto him when he urged her back down with gentle pressure. Her voice caught in the back of her throat when they connected and she stilled, waiting for her body to adjust to his. Trinity relaxed into the familiar feeling and began kissing Neo's neck and face, happy to be with him once again.

Then they moved, slowly, finding themselves, then with more confidence. Soon she was making little gasps in his ear and he was certain he was doing the same into hers. She found his hands and they interlaced fingers as they moved against one another. Trinity leveraged off his arms and sat back, changing the angle between them and humming in delight. Neo was transfixed by her as she moved above him. She was brighter, more vibrant then before. She arched suddenly as she came against him, head thrown back in a silent shriek, and in that moment she was a being of pure light, blindingly brilliant. He followed after her, barely registering his own body of light supernova in response to hers.

Trinity came down from her high and slumped against Neo's chest. She waited in a state of euphoria as he returned as well. Her body was vibrant with energy, but she was utterly exhausted. She shifted from around him and reached back for the blanket folded at the foot of the bed. She brought it around them and settled onto his chest, her head tucked under his chin. His arms came up around her shoulders, holding her there. She drifted off to sleep almost immediately, finally feeling complete again. Neo ran his thumbs across the smooth skin of her shoulders and was pleased (and a little smug) when her breathing evened out so quickly. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed her like this. Neo yawned, suddenly tired himself and was soon in a deep, restful sleep.

~*~*~

The dark car drew up beside the playground and two identical men in white exited. They searched the crowd of humans in the park and quickly spied their target. They looked at one another and strode across the grass. The little exile was tossing pieces of bread to the programmed ducks. Perhaps this would be easier than the Merovingian had thought.

"Looking for someone, Gentlemen?" 

Then again, perhaps not. 

"Seraph," One greeted. His brother stalked to one side of Seraph as he stepped to the other.

"The Merovingian would like to meet the new one," Two continued as they circled.

"There have been stories he finds to be most interesting,"

"You, Seraph, are quite welcome at the chateau, of course."

Seraph eyed the ex-ghosts even as he wondered what the Merovingian was up to.

"Hello," _Oh, not now, Sati. Not now!_ Seraph thought as he moved to stand between the girl and the twins: a difficult task as they were circling him like sharks.

"Hello," the twins said in stereo.

"Our boss would very much like to meet you," One said.

"Won't you come visit him?" Two asked. The little girl frowned as she thought it over. 

"You work for the Frenchman, don't you?" Sati asked. How did she know that? Seraph wondered. The twins looked mildly surprised as well. 

"We do," they said.

"Can Seraph come too?"

"Of course," Two smirked.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," One added.

"Ok. But I have to be back later to play with my friends." Sati informed them as she took Seraph's hand. One and Two smiled mockingly at Seraph as they led them towards the limo. One of the Merovingian's werewolves was driving. He looked back at Seraph through the rearview mirror.

"Babysitter now are we?" the program laughed.

"Just drive," One said testily. 

The 'were tipped an imaginary ha "Yes, yer lordship," he said in a decent approximation of the twin's accent. The limo drove through the vast city before pulling up in front of the building Merovingian's high-class restaurant was in. The twins got out and led Seraph and Sati through the building and into an elevator. They got off at the restaurant level but the place was silent and empty except for a few of the wait staff setting up tables. The twins led them through the kitchen and two produced a key. One closed the doors to the pantry. Two used the key on the doors and they now opened into the Merovingian's chateau. The twins flanked the door and gestured for Sati and Seraph to precede them. Sati pulled seraph along behind her and the twins snickered. Seraph did his level best to ignore them. Two closed the doors behind them.

"He's in the Western Sitting room." One said.

"I trust you remember where that is?" Two sneered.

"I remember where it is." Seraph bowed to the Twins and led Sati away.

"Ah, Seraph," the Frenchman greeted him with an expansive gesture. The Merovingian stood and sauntered forward. Persephone sat on the other side of the couch in a deep wine red dress with a collar of dyed feathers and fur. She smiled dangerously, always the predator's smile. "And this must be Sati."

"Hello," Sati greeted him with a little curtsey. "You're the Frenchman. My papa said you were the one that helped him bring me here."

"I am indeed," the Merovingian replied. Seraph took a protective step forward, not liking the other exile's tone. He was restrained by four white clad arms. "You stay right where you are Seraph. I am not interested in you today." The Merovingian's eyes never left Sati as he spoke.

"You're a very interesting little girl," the program said as he strolled around the room, "I have heard things. You've been causing Continuity some problems. You've been changing things" the Merovingian trailed off and spun suddenly, fixing his gaze on her. "Why," he demanded.

"I wanted to play with my new friends," Sati shrugged.

"With who?" The Merovingian was actually surprised.

"Well, there's Katie and Tally and Morgan and Stina, well, her name is really Christina but we all call her Stina, and Sharon and-"

"No, no, never mind," the Merovingian stopped the litany with a wave of his hand.

He thought for a moment, a frown creasing his features. "Did you create them?"

"No," Sati shook her head, "They're from the other world, from where Mama and Papa are. They're dreaming here."

This was not the answer the Merovingian had been expecting. She was playing with matrix-born Humans? Preposterous! 

"Why are you playing with Humans?" he asked, he couldn't fathom why. The girl shrugged.

"They're fun to play with," She leaned forward conspiratorially, "and I don't think Seraph likes playing with dolls too much." 

The twins laughed mockingly in his ear and seraph fought to retain his calm. Irrational behavior now would only harm his charge and himself.

"I think you may be right," The Merovingian agreed. He clasped his hands behind his back and resumes packing back and forth. "So, what do you create when you want to play with your friends?"

"I made a really nice playground. The lady with the clip board didn't like it very much. She wanted to make it go away, but I asked my friends if they wanted to keep it there and they said they liked it, so I kept it. She's not a very happy person."

"And your creations make your friends want to play with you?" Sati frowned, not understanding the question exactly.

"No, we played together before I made the playground."

"But they play with your because of it."

"No," Sati shook her head, "Other kids play there too and I don't know their names yet. Katie's older brother plays there with his friends and they don't play with us. Well, sometimes the try and steal our stuff, but then her Mama yells at him and he leaves us alone."

The program arched an eyebrow. The humans played with her for no reason? She didn't entice them with her creations? Perhaps she made something else which bound them to her will.

"What else do you make?"

Sati tilted her head to one side and cupped her chin, index finger on her cheek as she thought very hard about this question. The Merovingian looked at Seraph with an expression of mixed disbelief and mocking humor. Seraph simply smiled calmly back at him and the Frenchman's face fell into a sneer.

"Well, I help the Oracle make cookies,"

"Non." The Merovingian waved her to silence. "I mean like when you made your playground for your little friends."

"Oh! Hmmm. Well, I made a sunrise. It was for Neo. They don't have a sun in the outside world, so I thought I'd make him something pretty to cheer him up."

"Oui, go on."

"And I made a bunch of flowers for Jenny's mom because she broke her leg, and I made some dolls to play with while we waited for Neo and Trinity to wake up and I made some blocks for Stevie so he'd leave us alone. Oh! And I made the rain stop so I could play outside, and then I made my room yellow because the white color was boring and I made Noir a collar with a little bell on it." 

"You put a collar on a color?" his voice was even, brows raised in disbelief.

"No. Noir is my kitty. He's a black cat. Morgan says that black cats are unlucky but I don't believe her."

"You have a 'kitty' named noir?"

"Yes," she replied brightly, "It's French for Black. Isn't it?"

"Oui," he replied.

Seraph was sorely tempted to burst out laughing at the Merovingian's expression. Sati was nothing like he'd been expecting obviously. Persephone looked mildly surprised as well, but then her expressions were always difficult to read: that one played her cards close to her chest. Her husband crossed his arms and seemed to be mulling over a puzzle. Sati ignored him and decided to get a better look at her surroundings.

The little girl spun around, taking in all of the palatial scenery. Persephone smirked as her husband grew more flustered with the little one's non-compliance. The little exile wasn't like them, it was obvious. Persephone could see that even without having a sample to analyze. The child-program walked around the room, examining relics they had collected over the years, many of them from previous versions of the Matrix. She wandered by the tall book cases and past the suit of armor and looked at the da Vinci for a few moments before resuming her circuit of the room. She stopped by the twin swords mounted against black velvet.

"These are yours," she commented, looking back at the Merovingian. He arched a brow but said nothing. The little girl passed the enormous Ming Vase without comment but seemed to be captivated by the Faberge eggs in their Tiffany case.

Persephone set her win goblet down before sitting back regally as the little girl approached her. The child was somewhat unnerving; it was like she knew something Persephone didn't. Obviously she was spending too much time with the fortune teller. The girl stood next to the couch and was at about eye level with Persephone.

"Hello," she said brightly.

"Bonjour," Persephone nodded.

"I think your dress is pretty," Sati said. Her husband sputtered quietly and Persephone arched an eyebrow.

"Merci. It is one of my favorites." She watched as the girl tilted her head to one side then the other. The girl then leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "What was that for?" Persephone asked when she got over her momentary shock. Had the fortune teller sent this demon enfant to infect her with something? 

Sati shrugged. "It's a sample." Persephone's lips formed into a small "oh" of surprise. 

"I'd like to go back home now, if that's ok with you. I'm supposed to play with my friends soon," she explained in a loud whisper. Persephone looked over the girl's shoulder at her husband. The Merovingian threw up his arms in a gesture of disgust and waved the twins away from Seraph.

"You may," Persephone told the girl. Sati grinned brightly.

"You have pretty things. Maybe we can play dress-up sometime!" the little girl handed her a blood-red rose. Where had she gotten that? "This is for you. It matches your dress." Then the child skipped over to Seraph, took him by the hand and led him from the ballroom. The twins were dismissed by an imperial wave of her husband's hand as he crossed the floor to her.

"Did she do anything to you?" he asked.

Persephone gazed into space for a moment, searching her own code for any changes or foreign programming, but could find none. "No, she didn't." She was actually surprised. Her husband sat down for a moment before rising to his feet again. He paced the length of the couch's back, ranting in French.

"She plays with Humans! HUMANS! And they play with her as willing as she plays with them. She has the power to create and yet she doesn't use it," He sat back down again and plucked the rose from Persephone's hand. He studied it and could find nothing suspicious about it.

"She is not like us," Persephone mused. She took back the rose and studied it herself. It was a lovely creation. She brought it to her nose and inhaled the delicate scent. It was a perfect program. Amazing.

The Merovingian got up again and resumed his pacing. "She is strange. She acts more like, like that damn human savior than one of us!"

"Oui," Persephone replied distractedly.

He stopped his furious stride and crouched next to her side of the couch and drew her attention with a light touch.

"Did she do something to you?" he asked again.

"Non. I was just thinking." Persephone set the rose down on the table net to her goblet. "We should go or we'll be late arriving at the restaurant." He frowned for a moment before shrugging and assisting her to her feet.

~*~*~  
The sizzling sound of the new ship's hover pads was met by a cheer as the ship returned from its maiden flight. As the smallest ship, the Logos II was the first of the new ships to be completed. Morpheus smiled as he watched Niobe deftly spin the ship in mid air and settle into its berth on the Dock floor. Lithe and graceful as its predecessor, the new incarnation of the Logos was slightly larger and could accommodate a fourth crewmember and had unplugging capabilities. The fleet couldn't afford to have ships without that ability yet. Soon perhaps, but not now.

"Could it be that things are finally getting back to normal?" Hamann asked the dark and silent man standing next to him. The council, dockworkers, construction teams and remaining crewmembers of the Nebuchadnezzar and Hammer were watching the Logos' first flight. Morpheus smiled but his eyes never left the new hover-ship.

"It could be indeed."

"And the Neb is almost done," Roland said, gesturing to the first of three incomplete ships a little ways off. 

"Think we should inform her captain?" Hamann asked, eyes sparkling merrily. 

"I think it would probably be best," Councilor Dillard said regally. Hamann chuckled. Morpheus smiled at the ring of councilors and his fellow captain before schooling his features. The crew of the Logos had disembarked and Niobe was grinning broadly. Morpheus could see the white flash of her teeth from even this far away - no doubt her ship had performed well. Link, Neo and Trinity stepped forward to shake hands with the crew, offering congratulations. Niobe accepted them and strode over to Morpheus. He was trying so very hard to school his expression. He'd asked her earlier in the week to play along and she was only too happy to comply.

"She's a beautiful ship," Morpheus commented. Niobe grinned.

"Oh I agree. The Logos was a fantastic ship, but I think I'll like the Two." She winked and raised her voice just a bit to be sure everyone could hear her. "The Nebuchadnezzar will be finished soon. It's a pity you won't be there as captain anymore," Niobe said cheerfully, watching closely for the reactions of the crew around them. Trinity's head whipped around so quickly Niobe was sure she'd gotten whiplash. Neo's and Link's jaws dropped simultaneously.

  
"Yes, but I happen to know her new captain and I believe the Neb is in the best of care." Morpheus told her wryly and only then let his eyes fall on Trinity. Morpheus laughed a little at her wide-eyed expression of surprise. It was a rare thing for Trinity to be thrown so completely off balance.

Trinity's mind raced in a hundred or more different directions. Morpheus wasn't going to be the captain? But he'd always been captain of the Nebuchadnezzar! Was he implying what she thought he was implying? Where was he going? She suddenly realized that the council, Roland and Lock had joined them. Lock was inscrutable as always, but Roland had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. The council looked pleased as well. She looked at all of them, then back at Sparks, Ghost, Link and Neo. The latter four were as confused as she was.

Dillard stepped forward, Morpheus and Niobe flanking her.

"Trinity, it is my honor and privilege," Dillard began as Roland tossed a red knit sweater which Niobe deftly caught. "To bestow upon you," Morpheus helped Trinity remove the blue wrap she was wearing over her other layers, "The rank of Captain in the fleet," Niobe helped a thoroughly stunned Trinity don the new, red shirt and then gave her a quick hug. "With all the rights, responsibilities, privileges and duties thereof. Congratulations Captain Trinity," Dillard concluded. The older woman gave Trinity a quick hug before passing her off to Morpheus.

"You knew they were going to do this," she accused. The dark man grinned broadly.

"Yes I did. We all," he gestured to Niobe, Roland and himself, "knew. I'm going to be in charge of the new fleet we're building. We're going to free more people and explore the ruins, maybe find a way to clear the sky and live on the surface again. The Nebuchadnezzar needs someone to be her captain and that someone can no longer be me." He placed a hand on each of her shoulders, "You'll do a damn fine job, Captain." Trinity hugged him, praying to God or whomever that she was worthy of his faith in her.

Neo got over his shock and shared a broad grin with Link. The operator went over to offer his congratulations, but Neo held back. When Trinity had finally been congratulated by everyone else present, she turned to him. The kiss was meant to be quick and soft, but it quickly ran wild even as it grew more serious. Neo tried to pour all the pride an affection he felt in his heart into the kiss.

"I'm sorry Ghost, but I'm not giving you a kiss like that if your make captain," Sparks informed his shipmate. Trinity and Neo remembered themselves and broke apart, both a little breathless. 

"Well," Sparks said as he clapped one hand on Ghost's shoulder and one on his own Captain's, "I believe there is a tradition to be observed here."

"Drinks at Freeside?" Niobe asked.

"Drinks at Freeside." Sparks confirmed. "Violas until you feel like your skin is going to melt off. And then"

"I'm afraid to ask," Trinity laughed.

"Then we have Neo take you home and tuck you in," Niobe grinned, "and don't see either of you until late afternoon."

Trinity was speechless, but her blush said it all. Niobe laughed and gave her a small push towards the exit.

"Go get changed. We're taking you out tonight and you will relax," Niobe smirked a little. "We may be the same grade, but I'm older in the rank, so hop to!"

"Yes ma'am," Trinity sketched a salute and left for home with Neo in tow.

Freeside was part bar, part nightclub. It was popular with the military and non-military alike and one of the places both groups of citizens came together to party down. The establishment had so far only been open for meals for the repair crews since the war's end, so Trinity was surprised to hear the heavy music wafting out into the street and see the line of people at the door. A few people recognized Neo and whistled, a few others called for her name and hollered along with the ones cheering for Neo. She was wearing The Shirt, as he'd dubbed it: capital letters and italics and all. She'd worn it specifically for him, but was actually feeling a little self conscious with all those people standing there. Now wasn't the time for that however. She squared her shoulders and little and tried to appear confident as they waited for a moment at the entrance. Trinity gave the crowd a tight smile but then locked her eyes on Morpheus' broad back as they entered, trying to ignore everyone else.

  
The light in the club was low, creating a dark and mysterious feeling. Black lights and neon ones were hidden in recessed cracks in the living rock. The floor was metallic with bits of frosted backlit glass inset into the floor. The dance floor was empty for the moment as the DJ's began warming up. Music in Freeside was a combination of techno and trance imported from the Matrix, Zion music of the same flavor and in house, live improvisation and composition. Little blue and white LEDs had been set into the blackened ceiling to simulate stars and holographic projections of nebulae wheeled overhead. 

The proprietress, 3Jane, greeted them as they entered. "Welcome, welcome," the tall red-head said. "I've set aside Straylight for you this evening. If you'll follow me?" Neo breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around. He would have no trouble getting around this place. He could see the power lines running through the walls and under the metallic floor. He followed Trinity and Morpheus up to the second level where there were numerous tables and some cushioned alcoves set into the walls. A group of people Neo didn't recognize were already there. They stood and mock saluted Trinity who returned the favor.

"They're people from the academy," She whispered to him, "Most of the ones here are going to be reactivated into the fleet. I'll introduce you." She winked, "My first officer should know who the other captains are."

"Yes Ma'am," Neo responded obediently. "Might the first officer remind the captain that she is under orders to relax this evening?"

"Duly noted," she replied and they shared a grin. This could be fun.

"Enough with the sappy love looks, on with the legal stimulants," Sparks said as Morpheus pressed a Viola into Trinity's hand. Trinity looked at the assembled group, shrugged and knocked it back. The other captains cheered and lifted their own shots in toast. Another drink was pressed into Trinity's hand and Neo was given one as well. He downed the shot and suddenly the non-pod born people in the room were glowing as brightly as the pod-born, who were like moving constellations.

"That's cool," Neo mused as he looked around the room.

"Hm?" Trinity asked.

"Everything is so much brighter. It's really," he tried to find a word and failed, "cool." She smiled and took the shot she'd just been given. She gasped slightly as the drink took effect. Immediately Niobe passed by and insisted Trinity do another round with her. After Niobe half danced away, hips swaying to the beat of the music now in full swing, two of the reactivated captains put a shot in each of her hands. Trinity did both and then the one with Ghost and Sparks. Finally she seemed to have had enough and she backed away a little to stand with Neo who'd been watching with amusement from the sidelines.

Trinity's hand brushed against Neo's and she jerked it away. She could feel every callus and the soft scrape of his nails. He looked hurt and she quickly leaned in close, careful not to touch.

"I think I've had too many of these. I need to take the edge off."

Trinity was gone in a swirl of people, leaving Neo more confused that hurt. Take the edge off? You could take the edge off a Viola? Well, his own experiences had been pretty intense. He surmised that if she'd had one too many, everything must be painful. He'd lost count of how many of the shots she'd been given already, so it was a possibility she'd reached her tolerance level.

She returned about 15 minutes later, the smell of alcohol on her breath, carrying a drink. It was clear and Neo could smell it from where he was sitting. She quickly drank half the contents of her glass and then tentatively touched his hand. She smiled brightly and held on a little tighter.

"Better?" he asked. The depressant in the booze must be countering the stimulant in the Viola. She nodded.

"Still not entirely ok, but better," she reassured him. "I had a few shots at the bar to jump-start the process." She winked and squeezed his hand before finishing her drink. Sparks was there at her elbow with another one.

"Saw you switched. Might I get you a rusted squiddie?" he offered. She accepted, saluted him with her glass and downed a good third of the reddish-orange drink. Sparks looked impressed and retreated with a bow. The evening continued with the alcohol in the same way it had with the Violas. Trinity would finish one and someone would set another glass at her elbow. Sometimes she'd take a Viola instead. Neo was quite impressed with her tolerance by the time she left her seat and crawled into his lap. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and gave a happy little sigh.

"Let's dance!" she said suddenly. Neo had wanted to dance with her all evening, but had been unsure because of his lack of sight. In his Viola heightened state however, that fear was long gone. She led him downstairs to the floor and he couldn't help but remember the driving music that had been playing in the club when they'd first met. The music in this club was just as powerful, but the techno in Zion had a much more primal, tribal beat. They moved together on the dance floor, limbs intertwining then dancing away only to touch again, leaving trails of fire in their wake. Neo swore he could actually see those metaphorical flames dance along his skin. Trinity was glowing in Neo's strange non-vision. Her body was like liquid light and her fingers left trails through the air as she danced. He held her close as their bodies ground against one another and she threw back her head and laughed.

A quick round of shots and they were back for more: dancing with the passion and abandon of two people who had cheated death, twice, and were finally allowed to live, to feel, to rejoice. They left the dance floor a second time and Trinity dragged Neo down for a searing kiss. "I'll be right up," she told him with a push towards the stairs to the upper level.

Neo walked to the upper level and met the grins of his friends with a nonchalant one of his own. He was a little tired from dancing: now that Trinity wasn't there, it was as if part of his own energy had dissipated. She returned, more luminous than she had been moments before. Neo was amazed that no one else could see the light she was now radiating. She sauntered forward and pounced on him, her momentum carrying the chair he was sitting on tilting backwards until it hit the railing with a clank.

"Jesus!" Neo exclaimed, startled.

"No, that's you." Trinity countered, her low voice reached his ears and raced straight down to his groin. Her eyes were half lidded and her breath a little heavy. She'd had another round of something. She began kissing his neck and slid her hands under his shirt, spreading her warm fingers over his chest. Perhaps it was time for Trinity to stop drinking for the evening he thought as her hands wandered from his chest. Her fingers had found his pants and were teasing him through the far-too-thin material.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that here." He grasped her hand, thinking she'd be mortified if she remembered in the morning. Sparks was trying hard not to fall over in his laughter and was leaning on Niobe for support.

"Mmmmm. I'm the captain, I believe I give the orders," she retorted with a slight shift of weight that sent pleasant sensations all through his body. Her nimble fingers slipped from his while he was immobilized. She drew her other hand down his chest slowly, giggling softly. Dear god, since when did Trinity giggle? Neo wondered for a moment before he registered her hands again on his fly.

"Trinity," he called to her. She kissed him and let her forehead rest against his. Their fingers warred as she tried to undo him and he tried to fight her away.

"Hmmm?" 

"I think we should go ho-omemmph." She sucked on his lower lip then released it. "Everyone is looking," he said a little breathlessly. The shots he'd done with her had taken the edge off the Violas he'd had earlier, but he was still overly sensitive.

"If they respect our privacy they'll leave," she reasoned. Neo grabbed her hands, interlaced their fingers and drew her arms out to either side, well away from his pants. A part of him couldn't believe he was doing this.

"And if they don't leave?" He asked, trying to appeal to any reason left. She ground her hips against his, rotating forward so they were chest to chest.

"Then they'll watch," she breathed, resuming her exploration of his neck with her lips even as she rocked her hips forward again. Neo let out a strangled noise.

"You are so gone," he informed her. She threw back her head and laughed brightly. Neo, in his shock, released her hands. She placed them on his chest as her rich laughter subsided into giggles. She nodded rapidly then put and hand to her temple and giggled again.

"I am, aren't I?" She snickered and leaned into him, tucking her head under his chin.

"I think I am going to take you home now," Neo stood and eased Trinity to her feet. She swayed a little and fell into his chest, giving the rest of the (highly amused) crowd a smug smile as if to say _Look what I get to go home with! And he's all MINE!_

"Is she going to be ok?" Neo asked the officers watching them with amused smiles.

"Yeah. She started drinking alcohol though, so she might have a bit of a hangover in the morning," Niobe told him.

"Ok," Neo nodded and tried to get Trinity to stand a little more on her own. "Time to go home."

"Home again, home again, Jiggety-jig!" Trinity half sang as she sank into Neo again, causing them both to collapse into a chair. "I had fun," she stated and amazingly got to her own feet with only a small sway. "G'night," she waved and made her way down the steps, Neo following close behind. The group on the second floor looked at one another and raced down the steps behind them, no doubt the show wasn't quite over yet.

"Let's dance again!" Trinity was insisting as she tried to pull Neo onto the floor. Neo shook his head and tried to pull her towards the door. She slipped from his grasp but he was less intoxicated than she was and he grabbed her back easily. She kissed him and a few of the patrons cheered and hooted. Sparks made catcalls from the stairs. When they broke apart Trinity smiled brilliantly. "Home sounds good." Neo smiled and they made their way towards the exit. Locke was just arriving and did a double take as he was passed by Neo and Trinity.

"Where are you going?" he asked, surprised to see them leaving as he was arriving. It was still early.

"I'm going to get laid," Trinity answered cheerfully before dragging Neo from the club.

Lock watched after them for a bewildered moment before he joined the group on the stairs.

"Was that Trinity?" he asked, sure he'd been seeing things.

"Yeah," Roland said and knocked back a shot. There was a moment of silence.

"Well, that was new," Ghost mused.

"Dear god, what did I unleash on the world," Sparks asked no one. "Has anyone ever seen Trinity drink that much before?"

Ghost and Morpheus shook their heads 'no', identical wide-eyed expressions on their faces..

  
The world was kinda slow, and a bit brighter than normal, but Trinity really, really didn't give a damn. Neo started to push her away and she broke their kiss, giving him a confused look.

"The Elevator doors opened," he said by way of explanation. Elevator doors? Oh! Right! Their floor! She smiled lazily and grabbed his hand. Her plan had been to drag him down the hall so she could get him home as fast as possible so she could ravish him properly, but she wasn't that coordinated for some reason. She staggered and he caught her. She leaned into him while the world stopped spinning and considered nailing him right there against the wall. Some part of her said No! That is NOT a good idea even as another part of her said Fuck that. Fuck him. The more sober voice won out in the end and the two made their way down the hall. 

There were a whole bunch of people standing by their doorway. Trinity frowned at them. Why there they there? Oh yeah. Neo. Neo, Neo, Neo. The One. Hey! N, e, o all moved around said "One" actually. She giggled.

"What?" Neo asked. 

"Neo," she said loftily, "is an ananaangrim-thing. You know. Those things"

"Anagram?"

"Yes! Neo is an Ana-whatever, of One!" she declared, as if she'd discovered the meaning of life.

"Yes," Neo said after a moment. That was kinda creepy actually. He hadn't though of it before. They were coming up on the edge of the group sitting outside their door. The people were beginning to get to their feet, but perhaps more worrying were the ones getting to their knees. Oh this was going to be interesting. Trinity seemed to be ignoring them now though. She sank into his side and he staggered as he adjusted to her abrupt weight.

"I love you, you know," she told him. "She said I would and I didn't want to. I didn't want to do what she said, I didn't want her to control my life like that." She was shaking her head. "Nope. Wasn't gonna do it. Didn't wanna. But I like you. If you'd been anyone else I don't think I would have liked you nearly as much." Neo shook his head. He wasn't even going to try and parse that.

"Uhm, thanks?"

"I like you. You're nice. And kinda nerdy. But you're cute." She pinched the nearest butt cheek, causing him to yelp. The people were definitely looking at them strangely now. "And you're sexy which is good." Trinity said, a little more loudly than Neo would have liked. His cheeks flamed a little as he steered her towards their door. "I don't think I would have liked it if the One had been one of those ugly, smelly nerds," Trinity was musing now. Neo tried to door. Locked. Shit! Where were the keys? He looked over at Trinity. She seemed to be studying him as he felt around in his pants pockets for the key to the door.

" 'The man I love will be the One' she said. So do I love you because you're the One? Or are you the One because I love you?" She seemed to expect and answer. He shrugged.

"Uhm. I dunno?" The answer seemed to be good enough for her. She smiled and took a staggering step into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Love you. Doesn't matter," she said, drawing his head down into a kiss which lasted quite awhile. He finally had to break for air and was startled when someone, sighed and 'awwwww'ed. He blushed again and was very thankful when he saw Trinity had produced the door key from somewhere. Trinity turned her head to the side, looking at the crowd as Neo took the key from her. Three or four women were sighing, looking starry eyed. Or maybe there were six or eight of them. Trinity frowned at them all anyway.

"Get your own!" she growled as Neo grabbed her hand and dragged her into their room.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N) HUGE thank-you to Danascully for the feedback and crit, you rock! Thanks especially for the help and encouragement with Drunk!Trin ;) and some of the name suggestions (lotr! w00t) Lines and names gleefully ripped off of other sources: List at the bottom. This chapter's subtitle is "Trip like I do" 'cause I am addicted to the song ;) and it fits. Mwahaha I love Merv and Perse. They are SO much fun to write ;) so you guys get some of them at the end of this bit. 

Chapter the Fourth  


~*~*~ 

Neo pulled Trinity into the room after him and shut the door quickly. Trinity wore a slightly bewildered expression and looked at him curiously before leaning against him, her head on his chest. 

"Neo?"

"Hm?" His hands came to rest on her hips as she leaned back a little to look at him.

"I don't feel very well," she said softly. Her head fell against his chest and he gently rubbed her back.

"I'm not too surprised. Let's get you some water, OK?"

"Kay," she mumbled. Neo guided her to sit on the bed and filled a mug from the sink in the small bathroom. She sipped the water and a small, sober part of her hoped she wasn't going to be too hung over in the morning. She leaned against him when he sat next to her on the bed and Neo quickly took the mug and set it on the bedside table before it could slip from her fingers. Trinity sighed heavily and let her eyes close. She felt sort of queasy, maybe a little embarrassed, but definitely tired. "And this is why I have never done this before," she half groaned.

"You've never gotten completely trashed before?" She shook her head slowly.

"No. Got drunk, but never acted like this. Had to be in control." She sighed again, "Didn't want to be in control tonight. Wanted to have fun." 

"It's ok to let go once in awhile. Everyone was certainly helping you along. Every time you turned there was another drink." He handed her the mug again, coaxing her to drunk more water. "And it's not like you didn't have a good reason to celebrate," he reminded her. She smiled a little.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything." She shrugged,

"I think you probably could have made it home eventually. Niobe probably would have given you a shoulder to lean on."

"No." She shook her head. "I mean..." She tried to think of what she wanted to say, but the words eluded her, fluttering at the edge of her mind like teasing little butterflies. She sighed once more. "Love you. Didn't know how before. You showed me. No," she put a finger on his lips, stopping him from speaking. "I get...chatty when m'sloshed. So I'm going to tell you some things and you're going to listen, 'cause later I wont be able to say a damn thing. Control thing. So hush." She punctuated her words with a few drunken taps of her index finger against his chest. Neo nodded and her hand fell back to her lap.

"Been fighting for so damn long. So long. The soldier me completely took over. And that was good, 'cause we were fighting. An if I wasn't that hard I'd... break. Snap. Die." She sipped the water again. "I'm a cold, distant bitch and don't argue," she stopped him from speaking again.

"I'd get up, do duty, kick machine ass, eat dinner, go to bed. And do the same thing the next day. Was like a machine myself. And then oracle told me I'd fall in love. I hated her for that. Hated her so much. Didn't need anyone. Hated you too. A lot. Didn't want you. Hurts now, but I didn't want you before, but that was before and that's not now, so I want you now. But loving meant I'd rely on them and I didn't do that. But the truth is, I didn't know how," she shook her head sadly. "Didn't know love. Nope."  
"Didn't think I could do it. When I was in the Matrix, I had a good home. My parents loved me, my brother. Didn't love 'em back, not really. The world was too wrong. Kept waiting to wake up. World was a dream. Can't love a dream. Love? Didn't need it. Changed when you came." Her voice was very soft now and Neo had to strain to hear her. "You showed me how to rely on someone, how to feel, how to live. You showed me how to love." Neo remembered what he thought was going to be their last conversation but by some miracle wasn't.

_It's unbelievable, Trin. Lights everywhere. Like the whole thing was built with light. I wish you could see what I see._

_You've already shown me so much._

"S'like..." she paused again, looking for the words, "you've found parts of me that I didn't even know existed. And I feel...alive." Neo felt more alive too as she breathed the word, a beatific smile on her face. Her expression and tone turned wry. "Soldier me is having issues with the new parts of me. Those parts aren't cold and unfeeling, and bitchy. "Getting there I think. I hope. It's... disconcerting." She drained the last of her mug before setting it down on the table and wrapping her arms around Neo.

"Sorry. Melodramatic when I'm wasted," she snickered. "Good thing maybe. Wanted to tell you this for awhile now. Tried to when...you know. Then. Couldn't. God, I'm so tired. What started this anyway?" Neo wracked his brain, trying to find the reason she'd started telling him these things. He was having a hard time though, as he was trying to take in everything she'd said. He reflected that this might have been the most she'd ever said at one time.

"You were talking about wanting to have fun tonight?"

"Right. Right. I'm a control freak. Thought I had to be. Don't think so now. Change is a bitch though. Trinity the Soldier is going to have an absolute fit in the morning," she laughed.

"And non-soldier Trinity?" Neo asked.

"Drunk off her ass!" Trinity responded gleefully. "Promise me. Promise you'll remember this in the morning. Not sure I will. God, Ghost and Sparks are so getting it if either of them makes captain." She crawled out of his lap onto the bed and curled there. "Hey!" she suddenly smiled again "I'm captain!" He stretched out on the bed next to her.

"Yeah. You deserve it."

"Tired," she murmured as her eyes drifted closed. He pulled her to him and brushed his fingers along the side of her face.

"Go to sleep. Hopefully you won't be too hung over in the morning." She snickered sleepily but soon drifted off. Neo however was up for a long time, thinking about what she'd said.

  
Warm lips against his own woke him. He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep but it was a pleasant way to wake up. He opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. His wife was balanced above him on the couch.

"Hey," he said, smiling. She leaned down and kissed him again.

"Hey yourself. Time to get up. Everyone is going to be here soon." She stood and walked away. Tom took a moment to wake up. Everyone? Oh yeah. Dinner.

"What are we having?" he called out as he hauled himself out of the couch.

"Thai!" she called back from the kitchen.

"Thai?" he asked, somewhat disappointed as he entered the kitchen. She quirked a dark eyebrow, blue eyes sparkling.

"Baby and I wanted Thai, so that's what Mary-Anne said she'd bring. And you, sir, were sleeping at the time and hence were left out of the discussion. I swear, Tom, you're the only computer geek I know that doesn't like Thai food." She shook her head in mock disgust. He shrugged.

"I'm unique, what can I say?" He swept her up in a hug as best he could. At six months pregnant, the baby was beginning to get in the way but that was totally fine with him. "So when is everyone supposed to get here?" A car beeped in the driveway then and he chuckled. "I swear my life is like a sitcom sometimes."

"Oh?" she asked as they walked towards the front door.

"Well, we have our slightly crazy, yet well meaning grandmotherly neighbor who makes cookies all the time on the one side of the house...."

"And we have the crotchety neighbor obsessed with his grand work in Architecture on the other," she picked up the narrative with a grin.

"I'm obviously the protagonist." She rolled her eyes and swatted him good naturedly. He tried to dodge out the door but wasn't quite fast enough. "You're my lovely wife. The kid's gonna be born during sweeps week and look!" he gestured towards Tyrone and Mary-Anne unloading the car in the driveway.

"Our wacky friends?" she asked wryly.

"Exactly!"

"So what is this show called? 'Life with the Andersons' ?"

"I was thinking 'Geeks in Love'" he spread his hands across and imaginary marquis and she snickered. "But maybe your title would be a better sell."

"I bet money on Sparky being the one to get the spinoff. 'Adventures of a Neurotic Tech Support Agent'" 

"Adventures of whom?" Tyrone asked, deep voice carrying across the lawn. Tom and Natalie shared an amused glance and shook their heads.

"Nothing. Don't mind us," she said and gave Ty a quick hug before heading to Mary-Anne. "Hey!" she greeted her friend.

"Hey!" the dark woman stopped poking around in the bags in the back seat of the car to give her friend a hug. She picked out two containers and put one in either of Natalie's hands.

"Pad Thai for you. Satay chicken for the baby."

"Goodie. Lets go inside. The guys can carry the rest." She smiled brightly at Tom and Ty and led her friend back into the house.

"Thanks," Ty called after them. Mary-Anne turned and shot him a grin before resuming her conversation. Tom and Ty got the food inside just about when Lucas and Zira arrived. Allan and Sam aka 'Sparky' were close behind. The group piled into Tom and Natalie's living room to watch the latest episode. They really didn't care so much about the show, but it was an excuse to get together.

As Natalie settled against his side, finally finding a comfortable position, Tom reflected on his friends and family. Allan was Natalie's adopted brother. They were twins of a sort, both adopted the same day. Al was a good guy, but had a very Zen air and was hard to read. Lucas and Zira were the first to be married and though they didn't have kids of their own yet, helped take care of Zira's niece and nephew after their father and other uncle had died in a car accident. Sam, otherwise known as Sparky, was a tech support agent like Lucas was, and was possessed of a rather strange sense of humor. He seemed to be permanently wired. Both Allan and Sparky worked in Mary-Anne's division of the company. Petite Mary-Anne was dating Tyrone and quickly becoming one of Natalie's best friends. The two had found they had a lot in common when Ty had introduced her to them and they had immediately clicked. Ty was sort of a mentor for Tom and Natalie. Like a big brother, he aided them along the way, offering advice and a helping hand. Ty had also introduced them and for that Tom was forever indebted. 

The friends were all chatting with one another, catching up rather than watching the show. Natalie was now dozing against his side. She got worn out quickly these days he reflected. He wasn't talking, but then neither he nor Nat were ones for much conversation.

And then Thomas Anderson was struck with the feeling of wrongness so profound and complete, he almost jumped out of his seat. He did move enough to rouse his wife.

"Tom?" she asked softly, putting a hand on his elbow. He was sitting stiffly and barely registered her touch. "Tom, what is it? What's wrong? You can tell me." He looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. The walls were grainy, the sky outside looked pixilated. The pattern in the carpet made little symmetric fractals.

_"What's wrong? You can tell me" ...Cave... Candles..._

The low coffee table looked fake- the shine off the lacquered wood too perfect, too precise. The food on top of it ceased to smell like rich spices and cooked meat and vegetables. He could only smell static- the strange burnt hair and ozone smell. The leather sofa didn't register against his skin as leather; it was more static - fuzzy bits of electricity along his skin, like warm, intangible fur. The only thing which seemed real was Natalie lying against his side. She was sitting up now and conversation around them had stopped. 

Something was wrong with the world. Tom turned in his seat to face her, grabbing her hands. She had to understand.

"Something is wrong," he told her. She frowned at him.

"What?" she questioned.

"Something is wrong," he insisted again, panic rising. "I can't lose you," She shook her head, not understanding his sudden worry.

_"Don't be afraid..."_

_"I can't loose you."_

"You won't. I'm fine, the baby's fine. She's been kicking all evening." she took one of the hands holding hers and pressed it against her stomach. "You feel this?"

_"You feel this? I'm never letting go..."_

He felt a flutter against his hand, amazing and unreal. Then static. He could have cried. Tom shook his head, confused, angry and frustrated. This was wrong. It felt so right, but it was wrong.

"It's wrong, can't you feel it?" He looked into her eyes and they weren't blue anymore. They were green. Everything and everyone was a sickly shade of green. He grabbed her upper arms and couldn't feel a scar on her left arm. He looked and the skin was perfect, unblemished. He didn't want her to be hurt, but she had been, hadn't she? 

Tom looked around the room. The TV was filled with images of a wasteland, the sky a roiling black mass. Tyrone was sitting in a beat up, red leather chair that hadn't been there a moment ago. Mary-Anne on his lap now wore her hair in closely wound spirals. They looked concerned. Tom looked outside; the sky was the color of a TV, tuned to a dead channel. On the sidewalk in front of his house, beyond the white picket fence, his cookie baking neighbor was standing off against his mean, white-clad neighbor. 

"Tom," Natalie's hand against his forehead brought him back to the living room. She felt like static too now. Tom looked around at his friends, his wife. Life was so good, why wasn't it right? He vaguely heard someone call for an ambulance. They thought he was sick, but he knew he wasn't. He wasn't wrong, the world was. The ambulance arrived in a whirl of sirens a moment later. How had it arrived so quickly? Tom wondered if he really was going crazy - he kept seeing falling green digits and characters out of the corners of his eyes, kept hearing the ringing of a phone off in the distance. 

The paramedics burst into the room. They all looked alike - the same face and hair, all wearing sunglasses and sneers.

"Mr. Anderson," the lead one said in a monotone drawl. "It's time to go." The man reached for him and Tom yelled and backed away.

  
Neo fell off the bed, dragging Trinity with him onto the floor. They landed in a tangle of blankets and limbs, Neo breathing heavily. Trinity groaned and tried to untangle herself from the blankets and Neo.

"Wha-?" she asked sleepily. Neo grabbed her suddenly and held her against him. It must really have been some nightmare, she realized as she woke up. She let him calm down a little before easing his grip.

"God," Neo breathed.

"What was it?" she asked, her head was a little fuzzy and it took her a moment to form the question.

"Bad dream. Well, not all bad. Everyone was there and we were all happy."

"So what was bad about it then?"

"It looked like the Matrix. But all of us were there: Morpheus, Niobe, you, me, Ghost, even Link, Sparks and Zee. And it was good." Neo laughed a little as he remembered. "We lived in a house with a god damned white picket fence! But it was wrong and I freaked a little. Someone called the paramedics because you all thought I was sick and they were Smith."

"God, that's fucked up," Trinity said, _Shit,_ she thought, _I'm still drunk._

Neo calmed down more and the two of them got back into bed, pulling the sheets in after them. "I'm sorry," he apologized as she spooned up behind her. Trinity's sleepy grunt could have meant anything, but he took it to mean _"Ok. Whatever. Let me sleep."_ Or something like that. When she was asleep he let his hand trail under her shirt and over the flat plane of her stomach. Warm flesh and a little toned muscle with two points of alien scar tissue. Feeling a little foolish he tightened an arm around her waist is if that had been his plan all along. Trinity shifted in her sleep, but didn't wake. Neo remembered the last time a dream had affected him so deeply - Trinity was falling, the bullet from an Agent's gun lodged in her chest. He shuddered and hoped this wasn't the same sort of thing. That life had been almost too perfect and it wasn't possible in the real world anyway. Still, he mulled over its possible meanings until early in the morning when he finally fell asleep.

~*~*~

Niobe juggled the canteen of water and package of crackers in her arms until one was free to rap on Trinity's door. A group of what looked like Buddhist monks were in the middle of morning prayer by the door. That was weird. She shrugged it off and had to grin broadly when a bleary-eyed Trinity answered the door. The hung-over woman winced in the 'daylight' of Zion and she backed into the shadows.

"Good morning. I bring hangover help!" Niobe showed the water and crackers. Trinity opened the door and Niobe stepped inside.

"Please tell me I didn't announce to the whole world that I was going to go get laid," she asked, slumping onto the small couch in the front partition of the room. Niobe sat next to her, kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet under her.

"Sorry," she smiled and Trinity buried her face in her hands. "If it makes you feel any better I sang Karaoke for about two hours and Morpheus danced on the table. And the bar. He sang too."

Trinity's face emerged from behind her hands, eyes wide. Niobe laughed brightly and handed over the water she'd brought. Trinity took it and took a long drink.

"Thanks. The bar?"

"Yep. Getting plastered and doing things you'll regret the next day is part of the tradition. You're actually probably lucky. You left early."

"You mean I got smashed at record speed and went off to go nail Neo."

"Well, that too."

"Ugh." Trinity nibbled at a cracker's edge. "I feel like shit. at least this wasn't unusual for this sort of thing."

"They're still going to rib you about it," Niobe cautioned. Trinity winced.

"Figures."

"I'm sort of surprised you're up. Where's Neo?" Niobe asked. Trinity gesture vaguely towards the 'bedroom' part of her apartment.

"Sleeping. Got home, talked his ear off then passed out. I don't think he got much sleep last night. He kept waking me up by rolling around and then he had some really messed up dream.I think he said you were in it." She scrubbed a hand over her face. "Come to think of it, I don't know why I'm up either."

Niobe chuckled. "What was the dream about if you don't mind my asking." Trinity thought for a moment, trying to remember.

"All I remember is that he said we were all in the Matrix and Sparks, Link and Zee were there too. And the Oracle was out neighbor or something."

"And there was a white picket fence." Niobe and Trinity looked up to see Neo holding aside the curtain, hair sleep mussed.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Niobe asked. Though with the bandage around his eyes, it would have been hard to tell if he was awake in the first place. Neo shook his head and dropped to the couch behind Trinity.

"No. I'm surprised you are up though," he said wryly as he put a hand on Trinity's shoulder.

"That makes two of us. So this dream you had. I was there and Niobe was there and Morpheus was there and Oh, Aunty Em! There's no place like home!"

Neo's jaw dropped a little and Niobe was fairly shocked too. Trinity wasn't usually so talkative. She looked a little embarrassed.

"It had to be said," she defended with a shrug. 

"Yeah," Neo said after a moment. "Yeah. Only I wasn't Neo. I was Tom Anderson." He frowned. "Come to think of it, we all had Matrix names. You were Mary-Anne, I think." Neo looked at Niobe whose eyes grew wide. "What he asked,"

"That _was_ my name," Niobe admitted softly. She was almost 100% sure Neo had not known that about her. Neo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was not good. Not good at all.

"And everyone else?" Trinity asked.

"Well," Neo began slowly, "Morpheus was being called Tyrone." From the sharp gasps he could tell he'd correctly named his former captain correctly. He almost didn't want to continue but he did anyway. "Ghost was Allan," Trinity and Niobe were now looking at him with something approaching fear. "And you were-"

"I hate that name. Don't say it." Trinity spat vehemently. Neo was taken back by her fervor and his mouth snapped shut, teeth clicking audibly.

"Trinity," Niobe ventured, "I'm guessing you've never told him what your name was?"

"No. I am not that person. That is a slave name and I am as free of it as I am of the Matrix." Neo was surprised by her clipped words and the utter hatred apparent in Trinity's voice as she spoke. He'd never heard her say anything like that and never in that tone.

"Trinity, I have to ask him."

"Niobe, not even _Ghost_ knows." That was surprising news for both Neo and Niobe.

"You hate it that much?" Niobe asked in wonder. Trinity's voice was hard when she answered.

"Yes. I hate what it represents."

"Then hate me and not Neo." Niobe looked at the confused man sitting behind Trinity. "I was there when she was unplugged so I know what she was called before. Neo, what was Trinity's other name?"

Neo looked from one woman to the other for a moment before Trinity relaxed her shoulders every so slightly.

"Go ahead but you will repeat it to no one." It was an order, not a request. Neo nodded and hoped to high heaven he was wrong.

"You were Natalie." She hissed as Niobe winced and Neo knew he was correct. It was a shame he though. Natalie was a pretty name in his opinion and it fit her somehow. Trinity was by far a better fit, but now he wondered why she hated the name with such passion.

"God," Niobe swore, drawing his attention back to the conversation. "Matrix names aren't something anyone really shares too often."

"Deadbolt is practically the only exception,' Trinity murmured. "And I know Neo didn't know any of those before last night."

"What else happened?" Niobe asked.

"Well," Neo stalled as he tried to decide how much to actually say. "You and Morpheus brought food over to the house and then everyone else showed up and we were sitting around watching TV. It was kind of boring really. Then I knew it was wrong and things started to change to look more...sinister I guess. And then there were a group of paramedics and they all looked like Smith. And then I tried to get away and fell out of bed."

"That's all?" Niobe asked. Neo nodded.

"Yeah." There was no way in hell he was mentioning anything else after how Trinity had reacted to her Matrix name. But the rest was personal and he probably wouldn't have shared that with Niobe anyway. Niobe and Trinity both knew he was holding back. Niobe by intuition and Trinity because Neo was bad at hiding this sort of thing from her.

"OK." Niobe stood. "I'm going to go find Morpheus. This is strange and I really think this is something he should know about."

"OK. Thanks for the water and crackers."

"You're welcome Captain." Niobe smiled at her and showed herself out.

Trinity and Neo sat in silence for a moment when Trinity finally looked back at him.

"I won't ask you what you're keeping from me if you don't ask about my name, Or mention it."

"OK," Neo agreed. Trinity nodded, pleased and sank back into his arms, lost in her own thoughts and a hell of a hangover. Neo tried not to think about how similar this felt to his dream and wondered about her past and what caused her to hate her name so much that even Ghost didn't know what it had been.

~*~*~

Morpheus finished the last of the day's reports to the council, attached his electronic signature and sent it off to Dillard's office. Had he known the sheer amount of paper work that Lock had to do as Commander, he might have been a little easier to deal with. Or not. 

A businesslike rap on his office door announced the presence of Qwerty, his newly assigned secretary. The bookish pod-born was nerdy even compared to some of the geeks they pulled from the sewers, but he was surprisingly useful and adept at his job. Morpheus had initially been reluctant to have anyone working for him in a secretarial capacity, but after the first few loads of bureaucratic nonsense, he'd changed his mind. The young man blinked owlish eyes at Morpheus as he stuck his head around the door.

"Captain Niobe is here to see you, should I send her in?" Morpheus smiled slightly.

"Yes, please do," he instructed. The man nodded and pulled the door fully open before he went back to the small outer office. Niobe entered a moment later, wry smile gracing her lips. They greeted with a small handclasp and then Niobe gracefully perched on the small chair in front of Morpheus' battered desk.

"So how's life as a commander?" she asked, eyes focused on the mound of data pads and recycled paper littering his desk. Morpheus sighed and sank into his chair.

"I'm excited by the direction the council wishes to take the city in, but at the same time I just wish"

"That you were back on the Neb?"

"Yes. I know that Trinity will do an excellent job, but being a mere captain has so much less paperwork. And politics! I may very well go crazy. Or more crazy. Apparently some people believe that I have already gone around the bend," Morpheus smirked and Niobe chuckled. Of course many of those very same people were now eating their words. "So, what brings you to my office?" he asked.

"I was just visiting with Trinity and Neo."

Morpheus laughed. "Oh really? I'm surprised she was awake. How is she? Not too hung over, I hope?"

"She was coherent enough to realize how crazy it was that she was awake." Niobe's amused gleam turned downright mischievous, "She was also awake enough to laugh when I told her about your little dance number on the bar when you made captain."

"Oh you didn't," Morpheus groaned. Niobe smiled, flashing teeth. "I will never live that down, will I?"

"No more than I can live down singing 'Sweet Home Alabama'."

"You're singing wasn't that bad,"

"Morpheus, I was supposed to be singing 'Spirit in the Sky'," she gave him a look. They shared a smile, remembering good times with one another. Then as soon as the happy mood appeared, it fled and they both felt uncomfortable. Both dropped their eyes at the same time. Niobe shifted in her seat and Morpheus shuffled some of the data pads on his desk.

"You're heading back to broadcast depth." It was a statement inviting Niobe's own thoughts on the subject. The petite woman nodded.

"Yeah, that dubious honor is mine. We're just about set to go. We're going to follow up on a kid who got dropped when we were recalled back to Zion." 

Morpheus nodded. "Grond. How is Merlin working out?" Niobe smiled. Merlin was the newbie she'd recruited from the academy students to fill the forth position now available in her crew.

"He's ok. Wet behind the ears and tripping over his feet like a puppy, but I think he'll be fine. He's practically memorized the Logos' service record. He helped work on the ship for the last few weeks and Ghost and Sparks get along with him."

"Good, good. Hopefully you won't have any trouble. The Hammer didn't see any agents when they went to broadcast level-" Morpheus started. Niobe finished the thought.

"But they also weren't unplugging anyone."

"Exactly."

"The Hammer didn't meet with the Oracle, right?" At Morpheus' nod Niobe nodded to herself. She caught his questioning look and shrugged. "She seems to know a lot about what's going on is all. It would be nice to know what to expect."

"Indeed it would."

"Speaking of Oracles and prophecies and knowing the unknowable, that's why I'm here. I had a very interesting conversation with Neo that I wanted to relate to you."

"When you went to visit Trinity just now?"

"Yes. He told me about an unusual dream he'd had the night before. He was back in the matrix and so were we. But Sparks and Link were there too." A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, "It was a little like the Wizard of Oz actually. But the reason I wanted to tell you about this is, Neo knew my Matrix name, and he's never been told."

"He could have heard it someplace," Morpheus suggested.

"He knew your name and Ghost's too."

"Well-"

"He knew _Trinity's_ name," Niobe told him. That got his attention. Morpheus mulled over this new information for a moment before sitting forward in his chair.

"If you happen to see the Oracle" Niobe almost, almost, rolled her eyes. Instead she nodded. She hadn't expected a different answer. There was no way Morpheus had any more of a clue about this than she did. They were well beyond the prophecy now.

"If we see her, I will mention it." The silence dragged between them. The official business done with, the awkward nature of their relationship stretched out between them. 

Niobe wasn't with Morpheus, but she wasn't exactly with Lock anymore either. Niobe didn't know what she wanted now. Truthfully, she didn't know what either Jason or Morpheus wanted either. The end of the war was confusing. Ghost had likened it to walking around with a heavy weight around your neck for your entire life and then having the bond suddenly cut; none of them was quite certain about what to do with the freedom. There was still a lot of work to be done and no one quite trusted the machines, but something in her soul had soared when the mechanical army had retreated, swimming away like a demonic school of metal fish. 

"Well you probably have a lot of last minute work to do," Morpheus broke the silence. Niobe nodded and stood, grateful for the retreat. She turned to leave then stopped - something else on her mind.

"You know, when I went to visit Trinity this morning, there were an awful lot of people hanging around outside their door. Have you noticed that too, or is it just me?" Now that she thought on it, she'd noticed a group there weeks ago when she'd gone to quickly check on them after Trinity had been released.

Morpheus sighed. Neo and Trinity had seemed bothered by the attention and it really wasn't a good thing, at least in Morpheus' opinion, to practically be worshipping them at their doorstep. 

"I told them to ask one of the council members or Clash if they could get city security to clear the area." Morpheus pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"You don't think they did?" Niobe asked.

"Honestly? No. Trinity would pretend that they didn't exist and Neo would feel like he was putting people out." This was so typical of them: ignore or endure annoyance. "I'll see what I can do. I can't stop them from being followed around, but I can get them some peace at home at least." Niobe nodded and yet another awkward silence stretched between them. Finally Niobe turned back around and left the small office. Qwerty stuck his head in a moment later to find his boss lost in thought.

"Sir?" He wouldn't have disturbed Morpheus' thoughts, but it was time for his daily planning meeting with Lock and the council. Morpheus' thoughts returned from where they'd been and he was instantly alert.

"I'll be right there."

"Yes, Sir."

~*~*~

  
A barely clothed man in chains squirmed as a leather clad dominatrix flicked her cat-o-nine tails at his bare ass. In the corner two women were alternating between molesting one another and teasing the man tied to the wall. The waitress sauntered by and exchanged the Merovingian's empty martini glass for a new one. Driving music thumped through the club and the people below gyrated and ground against one another with much squeaking of leather and plastic and grabbing of various body parts. 

The Merovingian, however, was bored. He was holding court in his Hel club today. The petitioners he was seeing would be put off and unbalanced by the unbridled sexuality and violence of the bondage club, but even their discomfort failed to amuse him. The Merovingian wasn't really listening to the still pod-bound human making his stammering plea as he ran a hand idly up and down his wife's thigh. It was all so dull.

Persephone noted her husband wasn't even pretending to pay attention to the very nervous looking human who wanted a favor and imperiously waved her hand. Two of the vampires, Jean-Claude and Asher, hauled the still pleading man away. Persephone stilled her husband's questing hand and favored him with an arch look. They had been closer than they had been in centuries after Smith had invaded their home, something no other exile had been able to do, and assimilated them both. But his boredom bored her. Fortunately she thought she had a solution. She straddled his lap and began kissing his neck.

"What are you doing?" he asked even as his hands came around to grab her backside. She leaned back to look at him better. He was intrigued. Good.

She leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "I'm supposed to be a seductress. I am seducing you," she teased.

"Ah. Well then. Do continue," he insisted. A rather boring day was suddenly looking up. Oh, he knew she wanted him to do something for her, but he could enjoy her attention for a little while at least. "But may I ask to what end?" he finally asked. Her requests were usually interesting. Persephone sat back and heaved a little sigh, pouting slightly as she played with the buttons on his shirt.

"This is becoming boring. Dull." She gave a little head nod to indicate the Matrix in general. She was more than 600 years old and he was older still. They had seen and done everything it seemed and while they periodically revisited old passions - each other for example - she knew it wouldn't last long without something new and interesting. 

The sixth incarnation of the One had been so intriguing because he was different from his predecessors. She'd been attracted to that newness, had craved a sample of his emotions. His interaction with the female had been new as well. No previous One had been in _Love_ before. Persephone wanted to know what the Oracle had been playing at this round, had needed to know. Selfishly she wanted to sample their emotions. True love like that was like a fine chocolate: a small, sweet drug which exploded along the senses and left one craving more. And then the female had returned in full fury, demanding the return of her lover. The human's wrath had been intoxicating in its own way, her anger making little ripples in the code of the Matrix which danced along Persephone's code like flames. But such powerful emotions were best reserved for rare occasions, least she lose herself in them entirely.

Then there was the little girl program. She was certainly new and potentially very dangerous as well. No doubt she would be a pawn in the complex game the fortune teller played with her former employer. The Architect was possibly the only program more pompous than her husband, Persephone reflected. No doubt he didn't grasp the full import of Sati's behavior or existence. 

"The little exile. She was intriguing, non?" she asked. Her husband arched an eyebrow.

"In an annoyingly incomprehensible way, but yes I suppose."

"I have given her a lot of thought. She is so different from us, she has no purpose."

"_We_ do not have roles in this world except that which we make," The Merovingian countered. Persephone nodded.

"Oui. But she never had one to begin with. I have studied her programming from that sample. She is more like me than you, but still so very different. You were right. She does resemble the 6th anomaly more than one of us. Her programming leads her to make choices like he does."

"Hmm." He considered her words, knowing she was much better at discerning these things than he. Her programming was built for it while his was not. A program like the Anomaly? Fascinating. He wondered if the pompous bastard who ran the Matrix knew that. The Merovingian doubted it. Intuitive programs were all exiled or deleted. They had been deemed too dangerous by the Architect. More could be made, deletion was the best option. But the Merovingian saw in them potential that his former master hadn't, and had saved a few including the little minx on his lap.

"I think it would be interesting to have a child," Persephone said, finally getting to the heart of the matter.

"You want to take the exile _enfant_ away from the fortune teller?" He asked. That could actually be fun he reflected. He didn't like the so-called Oracle and the feeling was mutual. Plus he would have the added bonus of causing Seraph grief. Delightful.

"Non."

"Non?" No? But why? He was confused. That could be fun! And being in control of the only exile program of her kind would no doubt have benefits. Her amazing creative powers could surely be exploited. So, what was Persephone getting a- _Oh. _

Persephone watched with a smidgeon of malicious delight as he dear husband ran through the train of thought which would logically end up where she wanted it to.

"She has been with the fortune teller too long already and I cannot fully understand her either. That is too dangerous. A program from our own code would be like the little girl in some ways, but more like us in others. And it would be interesting." She kissed his cheek and he looked at her askance. "Think of it. What would the old woman's face be like when she realized she did not possess the only program of Sati's type?"

Well, that would certainly be amusing. The Merovingian smirked as he imagined the other Exile's reaction. Such a program in his retinue would be advantageous if the little girl was to play an important part in whatever move the Oracle was trying to make against the self-styled god of the Matrix. The bastard might be toppled by the old woman, but he and his would not be destroyed.

Persephone smiled. She could see her husband warming to the idea, already making schemes of his own. 

"And how exactly do we go about this?" he asked wryly. She leaned forward.

"Oh, that's the _fun_ part."  
_____________________  
Further A/N) Tyrone: Lawrence Fishburn's character in Apocalypse Now. See Beat's Fic "Ascension"  
Natalie: Carrie-Anne's character in Memento  
Grond: Morgoth's weapon (mwahaha! and also the weapon the battering ram that Sauron's forces used against the gates of Minas Tirith was named after)  
Jean-Claude and Asher: Vampires from the Anita Blake novels ;) thus they are programmed vamps here.  
"The sky was the color of a telovision, tuned to a dead channel" THE BEST opening line in a book ;) From Gibson's Neuromancer (with apology ;) )  



	5. Chapter 5

A/N) thank-you to Danascully, Centaur and Beat for the feedback and crit, you all rock! Apologies to Marley for nipping the song. I don't own the song lyrics in other words. apology to Gibson for stealing his accent ;) Chapter 5 contains a bit more SMUT so fair warning. the time gap between ch 4 and 5 is a couple weeks. Thanks to everyone here and one the Hardline who is reviewing ^_^ makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

This chapter has some rated R material (towards the end).   
Skip it if it isn't your cup of tea. the rest of the chap and most of the fic is pg-13

Edited and updated A/N (1-8-04)  
'cause a lot of people have been asking: No, this is **NOT** a Trinity pregnancy fic. minds, be at ease, I'm not going down that path.

Chapter the Fifth

~*~*~

"Oracle! Welcome back!" The grandmotherly program laughed as the little exile ran into her hug. 

"Hello Sati, dear. I see you've been busy while I was gone." The oracle brushed a bit of flour off the girl's cheek. "Have you been good for Seraph?"

"Yes! We've been baking cookies! Come see!" Sati took the Oracle's hand and pulled her into the kitchen. Now the Oracle could smell the aroma of slightly overcooked cookies. A harried looking Seraph hastily set down the tray of crispy looking cookies and took off the oven mitts. He bowed to the oracle.

"Welcome back. What did you find out?"

"We discussed the terms of the peace agreement. Those who have been showing signs of rejecting the matrix and who have been noticed by the human resistance are allowed to leave. Humans caught trying to remove anyone the Agents do not think is rejecting the Matrix are subject to expulsion from the Matrix and or possible death," She reported solemnly. "They are not allowed to force anyone to leave either." Seraph nodded. He and the Oracle had expected as much from the Architect.

"No humans have come back to the Matrix save that single crew a month after the re-boot. Are we to expect any humans at all?" The Oracle nodded.

"The Architect has told me that I am to explain to the next person who enters the Matrix what the situation is. He is sending an Agent to convince them and make sure they are told the terms of the deal. A ship is on its way to broadcast level according to the machines on the outside. I would like you to go and inform the humans."

Seraph nodded and withdrew from the room. The Oracle settled into a chair and waited for the front door to finally close softly. She sighed and beamed at the little girl.

"Well, let's let these cookies cool a bit and then we can try them!" Sati smiled brightly and nodded eagerly. She pulled out a chair and sat down, her expression growing serious.

"Oracle?"

"Yes, sweetie?" the older program asked as she lit a cigarette.

"I've been thinking. Seraph is so nice. I enjoy playing with him very much. But the Frenchman doesn't seem to like him at all. Why is that? They're so similar and Seraph is so nice, I don't understand." The Oracle blew out a stream of smoke with a little sigh. She tapped the ash off the end of her Cigarette. It fell into a little tray on the table, smoldered and died.

"Well, that is a long story, a long story indeed. You say they are similar though?" she questioned. The little girl nodded.

"I think their code might be very similar." She shrugged a little shy now. "I just get this feeling."

"Oh, don't be shy, dear. You are quite correct, they are coded very similarly. But you must be careful." She gestured with the cigarette, the smoke trail following her movements. "Those little differences make them worlds apart. Remember that, for me?"

"I will," Sati nodded.

"Good girl," the old woman smiled and took another drag of her cigarette. She exhaled and sat back in her chair. "They are very similar because they are from the same version of the Matrix, the very first in fact. They even had similar jobs. They're very old programs." The oracle arched her eyebrows as she watched Sati's unsurprised reaction. "But you knew that. You knew they were old, didn't you." The little girl nodded hesitantly.

"Mama and Papa said that asking someone's age when they are much older than I am is very rude. I didn't want to be rude." She shook her head earnestly, the long braid swayed back and forth.

"That was very considerate of you." The Oracle complimented, causing the girl to smile. "Well, as I said they were there at the beginning. The first Matrix was very different than the one here." She gestured to the kitchen with her other hand. "It was based on the human's concept of heaven, and like the agents are coded to blend in here, Seraph and the Merovingian were coded to blend in there. Back then we all looked like angels of different types and the Architect set himself up as God." The Oracle rolled her eyes and flicked ash into the tray again. "Seraph was much like an Agent for that version of the Matrix. He guarded other programs and fought off humans who tried to hack in once they found out what was going on."

"They didn't know?" Sati asked. Didn't people the resistance unplugged from the Matrix tell their new friends what they'd been dreaming? Didn't many come back to take more people? 

"No. This was soon after the sky was destroyed and the machines in the real world learned to use humans as power. There were still free humans living on the planet then. Not nearly as many as there had once been in the world, but many more than live in Zion now. The world wasn't yet a frozen desert and Zion had not yet been built."

"So they didn't know that the humans in the towers were dreaming here." Sati said. The Oracle nodded. The program seemed to understand, young as she was. "And the Frenchman? Was he an Agent too?" Sati asked. The Frenchman wasn't as scary as that Agent Smith had been, but he was scarier than Seraph was.

"No," the Oracle shook her head. "Seraph guarded other programs and the Matrix itself from invasion, but the Merovingian guarded knowledge. The system was new and had holes in it, so programs were needed to guard knowledge of the real world from the humans living in the Matrix. He also guarded the database which contained the plans for the Matrix, communications between the real world and here and the Architect's plans for the future of the Matrix." The Oracle flicked the ash off once more, her cigarette almost gone now.   
"But he also wanted power, so while he prevented all others from seeing this information, he himself read it." She made the point with another stab at the air with the smoldering end of her cigarette. "None of the humans and few of the programs truly knew what was going on, but he did. This is important because of what happened to the first version and why we don't live there today. That world was perfect, but it was not to last." The Oracle ground out the end of her cigarette as she said this. The smoke gently drifted towards the ceiling, simulating wafting slightly in reaction to the simulated breeze.

"Why not?" Sati asked curiously. Wouldn't a perfect world be the most fun to live in? Surely it would be sunny all the time and there would be plenty of playgrounds.

"It was perfect. There was no sickness, no war, no hate, and no sadness. Everything was bright and wonderful. Everyday was sunny and if it did rain, it was only for a little while, there was always a rainbow. But it was too perfect and it didn't look real to the humans, and so they began to die."

"Oh, no!" Sati frowned in sadness.

"Eventually the Architect and the machines in the real world decided that the Matrix should be rebooted from a clean start. A handful of the programs would cross over into the reboot, but the rest would be deleted or recompiled. The Merovingian discovered this and saw that he was to be deleted, so using the knowledge he had of the Matrix, he separated himself from the Source and became the first Exile." The Oracle paused in her tale to reflect on the past. "He was different then and I am not sure why he has changed, but I know that he has." She smiled sadly and then continued her narrative. "He tried to convince others to follow him, become exiles and survive the System purge. A few followed, fearing for themselves, but not many. Most didn't believe or didn't know that there was a problem, that everyday there were fewer and fewer humans to look after and tend."

"What happened then?"

"The system was purged. It started as a cascade and swept from one end of the Matrix to the other. To the humans it looked like a great ocean tidal wave crashing towards them. When it passed over they were in a new version of the Matrix with no knowledge of what had happened before. Many programs saw this wave and knew they wouldn't survive the Flood. The Merovingian and his followers tried to get as many out as possible but few were able to be saved. Seraph was the last through the crude back-door the Merovingian had programmed and was partially hit. He had to be recompiled and he awoke as you see him now."

"So why do they hate one another? Why did the Merovingian save him if he didn't like him?" Sati asked, a little confused.

"They didn't always hate one another. In fact when I first really met them, they were the best of friends it seemed. Seraph worked for him and was his highest lieutenant."

"They used to be friends and they hate each other now? That is so sad! I can't imagine not liking any of my friends anymore. Why do they hate one another?" The Oracle sighed.

"I'm afraid it may be because of me. A little while after I became an Exile, Seraph stopped working for the Merovingian to protect me, because he believes what I do."

"That we should be friends with the humans, like I am with Morgan and 'Stina and all of them!" Sati grinned. The Oracle smiled quietly.

"Yes dear, that's exactly right. Well!" The Oracle pushed her chair back and stood. "Enough of this serious talk. Let's go try those cookies!"

  
~*~*~

Niobe's lips compressed into a thin line as she maneuvered her ship through the ruined sewers. The craft nimbly sailed past the rusted pipes and dangling rebar, but the ship's reactions were a touch off to her pilot. Niobe sighed. The successor of the Logos was a fine ship, but it would take some getting used to. Niobe deftly spun the ship around and Ghost flicked the landing gear controls. Great arcs of blue energy zipped between ship and ruin as the Logos settled to the ground at broadcast depth. Ghost began the hover-pad power-down to standby as Niobe undid the clips in her seat harness. Time to go to work.

She made her way back into the core where Sparks was already prepping his station.

"So will we unplug this kid or not?" Sparks asked the newest member of the crew. Merlin shrugged.

"Don't know."

"Aw c'mon. You're the one living backwards, give a guy a hint!" Sparks quipped. Merlin rolled his eyes and continued working on the system setup. Niobe was glad to see that Merlin was dealing well with Sparks' particular brand of ...humor. The kid was 22 and had been unplugged for about a year and a half. Normally he would have been on a ship already but an unfortunate encounter with a group of squids shortly after the Gnossos had unplugged him had prevented that. He'd ended up with an extended stay in the hospital ward instead of a spot immediately on a crew. Once he was better he'd opted for advanced downloads and classes in the medical areas which is why Niobe had looked in his direction in the first place. They needed a real medic to supplement what she, Ghost and Sparks already knew. Niobe had worried a little bit about adding a fourth person to her tight knit crew. But Merlin got along well with Ghost and endured Spark's teasing. He was a good kid. A bit green, but then they all had been in the beginning.

"Are you ready?" Niobe asked Sparks.

"I am indeed," Sparks hopped into his chair and adjusted the headset. "I believe my heart has finally recovered from the massive coronary I had last time we were out. My doctor advised me against going back out here, you know." Niobe rolled her eyes and checked over her chair. It was ready so she sat and rested her elbows on her knees while she waited for Ghost. Merlin sat across from her, looking a little nervous. She reminded herself that as professional as he might be in the real world, she was going in with a total n00b. He may as well have been fresh out of the pod. 

Well, perhaps he would be a little better. He'd been in a real life battle before as a volunteer at the docks and had survived what by all accounts had been a bloodbath. Ghost stepped into the core, tranquil as ever as he pointedly ignored Sparks' running commentary. He sat back in his chair and nodded to her, ready to see what awaited them in the Matrix. Niobe sat back.

"Load us in," she ordered. Sparks, surprisingly, jacked them all in without comment. Niobe opened her eyes to the disorienting white nothing of the Construct. 

"Incoming," Sparks' voice intoned from everywhere and nowhere. Racks of guns and munitions raced in from infinity. She took her usual side arms, as did Ghost. Niobe watched the newbie arm himself while Ghost did his usual gun check. Merlin's RSI wore what looked like a dark blue zoot suit with black pinstripes. He even had shiny black spats to match the look. The sunglasses he wore were little ovals in a matching deep blue. His spiky red hair with bits of bleached yellow looked like it did in real life amusingly enough. Merlin tucked a couple guns into shoulder holsters then slid a cell phone into his pants' pocket. 

"We're ready," Niobe told Sparks. Immediately a pedestal appeared. Niobe rolled her eyes. It was a damn good thing Sparks was an excellent operator, otherwise she wouldn't have put up with such silly things. Niobe grabbed the phone from Mickey Mouse's hand/phone-cradle and was pulled into the Matrix.

Ghost and Merlin appeared moments later. They were in an abandoned building of some kind, no surprise. The phone in the real world was an old radial dial and it looked like no one had been there for years, again no surprise. The door opened, that was new. Niobe. Ghost and Merlin whirled around, guns out and ready to fire. Niobe and Ghost instantly recognized the figure in the doorway and put up their guns slightly. Merlin didn't know Seraph but followed his captain's lead.

"Seraph." Niobe greeted, trying to hide the surprise she felt. The program bowed his head in greeting.

"I have been asked by the Oracle to tell you of how the peace will work in the Matrix. Will you follow me? There is one other who will come to our meeting." Niobe cast a quick glance at her crew before putting her guns away. Ghost and Merlin followed her example, and then they all followed the program into the stark corridor. Niobe exchanged a look with Ghost then moved on ahead. Ghost dropped back a little, drawing Merlin with him.

"That is Seraph. He is a program and he guards the Oracle," Ghost advised. Merlin nodded. They followed the program past about fifty identical doors before Seraph stopped at one and withdrew a ring of keys from his expansive sleeve. He led them into a well appointed conference room of some type.

"The Agent from the System shall be here shortly," Seraph explained.

"Wait a second, Agent? As in a program Agent?" Niobe angrily demanded. For all her small stature, the captain of the Logos was not one to be trifled with. Had the fucking program tricked her?

"Yes. But you will not be harmed," Seraph insisted. "The Agent is here so that the system knows you have been told the new rules they wish to impose."

"What sort of rules?" Niobe questioned. The door opened and an Agent stepped into the room. Niobe recognized him as Agent Brown. The Agent eyed each human then sat down at the conference table. Seraph politely gestured for the humans to sit as well. Niobe paused for a moment, not wanting to sit within arms reach of a an Agent. Still, she couldn't detect and sort of subterfuge from Seraph. Finally sat across from the Agent, Merlin and Ghost stood behind her chair, flanking her. Seraph sat on a third side of the table.

"The System has decided to inform the humans so that no mistake can be made," Brown stated. Seraph nodded after a moment. Brown folded his hands in front of him and seemed to recite.

"It has been decided that humans who wish to be freed from the Matrix will be allowed to leave," Brown stated. "Humans will conduct observation of potentials as they have in the past. They will determine if a human is appropriate for unplugging or not. Determination of rejecting humans is the responsibility of the unplugged humans and not the System. The System will not aid in the search but will prevent the removal of those who have not rejected the programming."

"How do we know you won't just tell us they're not rejecting when they actually are," Niobe asked, suspicious of the program. Brown seemed to glare.

"That will be covered," he stated then continued on. It sounded as if he were reciting a contract to the humans. "The system is aware of individuals suited and unsuited for unplugging. Removal of a human unfit for unplugging will result in the demand for the return of the human and Exile status for the crew involved. Exiled crews who enter the Matrix are subject to removal by Agent programs, with deadly force if necessary."

"How do we know you won't lie? That you won't tell us someone is not suited but they are." Niobe demanded. She swore the program looked back at her like she was crazy.

"We cannot tell lies."

"This entire place is a lie," Niobe pointed out.

"Agents are not programmed to lie." Brown clarified. "The Architect of the System has given his word and is not programmed to go back on it. The Machines on the outside have determined this to be an acceptable peace compromise and will hold the System of the Matrix to it."

Niobe wasn't sure what that all meant exactly, but it seemed like it was the best assurance she could get. After all, the Machines didn't know if the humans would go back on their word either and they had all the advantages. She nodded acceptance and hoped she wasn't screwing Zion in any way. The Agent continued.

"Potential candidates for unplugging will be given a choice. If the human does not wish to leave the Matrix, unplugged humans will not forcibly remove them. Humans are not allowed to convince anyone to leave the Matrix or coerce them into making the choice to leave. Humans caught doing this will be expelled by Agent programs, with deadly force if necessary. Agents of the system will not interfere with the unplugging of humans if the situation is as described." Brown paused to load the next part of the agreement. That done he continued.   
"The system is not responsible for any human deaths in the Matrix for this reason. The System is also not responsible for any deaths in the Matrix which are the result of human negligence, or due to interference with the lives of unplugged humans. The System is not responsible for any unplugged deaths due to conflict between connected humans and unplugged humans. The System is also not responsible for deaths due to interaction with exiled programs. Unplugged humans are to keep a low profile within the Matrix at all times. Unplugged humans will also not engage in activities which will upset or harm the System while they are in the Matrix. Damage to the System as a result of interaction with plugged in humans will result in review and possible censure or exile for the unplugged humans involved." The Agent stood and Niobe and Seraph stood as well. He turned to leave and Niobe called out after him.

"That's it? Those are the terms? No negotiation?" She wasn't prepared to negotiate but she also didn't like the feeling of having terms dictated to her. 

"No. Human and machine aims are known quantities which were taken into account when the system devised the terms. Simulation of levels of humans and machine acceptance were run until this solution was found. The terms were presented to the Exile intuitive program and refined to how they stand currently. The negotiation has already been calculated."

The agent put his hand to his ear and listened to the bug there. "You have specifically been identified as one who has willingly upheld the peace agreement made by the Primary AI and the Anomaly you refer to as the One," the Agent studied her for a moment, filing this information away in her profile. "As you have upheld the peace agreement in the outside world, hold it here and we will uphold our part." 

"I want a copy of this agreement." Niobe demanded. The Agent paused then nodded. The door opened a moment later and a second agent entered the room. Agent Green handed some papers to Ghost and left. Agent Brown turned and exited the room without further comment.

"Exiled intuitive program? The Oracle?" Merlin asked Seraph. The program nodded.

"She felt this was the best solution for now. You will be able to free humans as you did before but without hindrance from Agents of the System."

"True, but we'll still have to deal with human authorities," Ghost mused as he tucked the now neatly folded papers into an inner coat pocket.

"Then I guess it's just as well we're getting so many new people in the fleet. None of them are terrorists," she smiled wryly.

"Do we continue with monitoring or do we head back to Zion?" Ghost asked. Niobe had been thinking this over in the back of her mind since she'd been told she was going to hear terms and conditions.

"We'll monitor then head back close enough to send a message back to the city." She decided finally. Ghost nodded. "We should be getting back. Our operator is probably having three kinds of fits about now," Niobe told Seraph. The program nodded and silently led them back to the abandoned building they'd arrived in. Niobe's cell phone immediately began ringing. Seraph bowed and withdrew back into his corridor.

"We're OK Sparks," Niobe said by way of greeting. Sparks sputtered on the other end of the phone. 

"I hate it when you guys do that," he complained when he was finally able to speak. "You have no idea how much I hate it. Where were you?"

"We met with Seraph and an Agent,"

"An Agent!?" It was more of an exclamation and less of a question. Niobe held the phone away from hear ear so she wouldn't get the full effect of Sparks' yelling. 

"Yes. They told us the terms of the peace here in the Matrix. I think you can relax a bit today Sparks. We're not going to be attacked by any Agents."

"What? Why?"

"Apparently we're allowed to unplug people who take the red pill...more or less," Niobe informed him. "We're going to go on with monitoring tonight and then we're heading back into message range." There was silence on the line for a few moments before Sparks answered.

"Are you sure about this Niobe?"

"Yes Sparks," Niobe said, "I am."

"Ok then," the connection went silent for a moment as Sparks consulted his monitors in the real world. "our boy is out partying tonight. Club Binary on 42nd and West, just down the street. Hope you brought your glow-sticks, 'cause it's a raver club," Sparks told her. He felt a little bit better about the situation since his crew seemed to be fine, but Niobe was kidding herself if she thought he wasn't going to keep watch for Agents. And Sentinels! Sparks did not trust the machines even as far as he could kick their dead squiddie bodies.

Merlin watched their target flail about on the dance floor in time to the driving techno beats of the club. Grond wasn't a typical hacker potential, but then Merlin hadn't been either. No, the world had been so wrong Merlin had gone searching for the answers, had learned how to hack just enough that he could get into the chatrooms and boards where resistance members kept an eye out for potentials. Grond on the other hand was a musician, albeit of the more electronic type. Unreality was a theme in his art as it was in so many artists rejecting the System. But Grond had heard of the Matrix on the internet and had not only learned how to hack, he'd become rather proficient at it. This had made him an attractive potential: Zion needed culture as well as soldiers and he could possibly fill either role, especially now that the war was over - or at least in a cease fire. Merlin wasn't so sure about how long the peace would last.

Merlin set down his beer with a small smile. He'd found that of the perks of being a digital construct with a mind was the ability to download perfect fake IDs. He looked around and spotted Niobe and Ghost pretending to chat over drinks on the upperlevel where older club goers seemed to congregate. They were here tonight because their target was here not only for fun, but for some business as well. 

Grond separated himself from the dance floor and headed off for one of the darker alcoves in the club. He slid into a booth and a smooth exchange was made before he slid out the other side and headed back to the dance floor. Grond had become a very proficient hacker indeed it seemed and it was important for the crew to know as much about this kid as possible before decided to offer him the pills or not.

"He's not doing badly," Ghost commented. Niobe had to agree, Merlin was doing an excellent job of tailing their target. She was almost certain that Grond, or Jeff Masters as he was called, Hadn't noticed Merlin's circumspect observations. 

"Not bad at all. I think I might even let him go solo next observation," Niobe mused. Some crews chose to observe potentials only remotely, but she felt it was important to get a more personal feel, to listen to their conversations, hear them talk, get a bit more of a connection than green code could provide. Morpheus and Roland both preferred this method as well and no doubt Trinity would conduct her new ship in a similar manner. Niobe's lips twitched up slightly. Apparently in his zeal to find The One, Morpheus had forgone this sort of long observation with Neo. Thank God.

"So you think they can come back?" Ghost asked. Niobe tilted her head, asking for explanation silently. "Programs. I see two we killed in the mansion," Ghost explained. Niobe casually reclined against the railing and surveyed the crowd eventually looking where Ghost had been. Two rather dangerous looking men were standing in the crowd. They screamed 'Body Guard' and the other humans gave them ample space. Niobe instantly recognized them as programs she was sure had been killed- a 'vampire' and a 'werewolf'. Shit.

"Apparently they can. We should go before they notice us." Niobe said. She caught Merlin's eye and the young man causally made his way towards the exit. Niobe and Ghost began making their way over to the stairs when they realized they were being followed.

"Just a moment," the vampire program said, stepping out of the crowd. Niobe had no idea how he had gotten ahead of her. The other made his presence know behind them with a cruel chuckle.

"I think we owe you two," the werewolf said. Niobe remembered them as both being hard to kill. She and Ghost both began to reach for their guns when a commanding, yet very young sounding voice broke the tension.

"I don't believe those will be necessary." The programs grudgingly stepped back from Ghost and Niobe. She could feel Ghost tense beside even as she did also - neither had any idea what this new threat was. The crowd parted for a third body guard - another 'werewolf' program she'd seen before - and a young boy, about 10 years old give or take. The programs glared at Niobe and Ghost but seemed to be taking orders from this kid.

He was pale skinned with dark eyes and dark hair which was slicked back. He wore an expensive looking blue silk shirt under a well tailored, long black coat which covered an equally well tailored black suit. The outfit seemed vaguely familiar to Niobe somehow. "You will let them pass," the kid commanded. The first 'werewolf' program stepped back with a low, animal growl but the 'vampire' stood his ground. "Vlad," the boy warned, voice expecting obedience and promising pain. The aggressive program actually looked afraid for just a second as he stepped out of their way. Niobe quickly made her escape trusting Ghost to follow. They left the club and found an anxious Merlin in the Construct when they answered the phone back in the warehouse.

"I had Sparks keep me here in case you guys needed backup," he explained. Niobe nodded thanks. Ghost removed the agreement he'd been given from his pocket.

"We're fine. Let's get out of here and send a message to Zion. Ghost, scan that in quickly. Sparks!" a table and scanner appeared in the Construct just as the white world rushed away from Niobe.

Niobe woke up in her body with a small shiver and grabbed a blanket from under the chair to fight off the cold. Sitting still for extended periods of time on a freezing ship left the body quite chilled. It was far from pleasant and she felt slightly out of practice. Sparks was furiously typing at his station but spared an eye to see if he was ok.

"Be over in a second," he said as Merlin woke up. A moment later Ghost's eyes opened as well. Sparks hurried out of his seat and unplugged his crewmembers, all the while muttering about being the only nod-pod on the ship to do this task. He hopped back into his chair and began the processing program on the data Ghost had scanned in. 

"Were you guys ok? Sparks said you ran into programs of some type on the way out." Merlin asked. Sparks turned in his seat, all ears. He'd seen the confrontation but didn't know what it was about.

"We saw some programs we thought we'd killed. They were from the Merovingian's Chateau," Ghost explained.

"That crazy place you guys got zapped to?" Sparks asked. Niobe nodded.

"Did you see the kid in the club?" Niobe asked. Sparks nodded.

"Yeah. He looked like a program too. A complicated one."

"Figures," Niobe muttered. Perhaps unplugging wouldn't be such a cakewalk after all. Exiles weren't part of the system and had no problems with killing resistance fighters.

"Did you know who he is?" Merlin asked. Niobe and Ghost shook their heads.

"He is probably one of the Merovingian's programs," Ghost said. Niobe frowned.

"He was even dressed like him," She had only seen the Merovingian program briefly, but she recalled that he'd had the same sort of coat.

"OK, that disturbs me," Sparks muttered. By all accounts the Merovingian was a nasty customer. Another program like him out to threaten the crew was not something Sparks wanted to deal with. For once, Niobe agreed with her operator's negative assessment.

"Come on." she pushed herself out of her chair and shed the blanket. She started towards the cockpit. "We need to get into communications range with Zion."

~*~*~

Trinity drew a finger over the cool metal surface and couldn't help but grin just a little. Her ship, _HER_ ship was nearing completion. Kahn, the engineer in charge of the yard workers had estimated the Neb had a little under a month to go before she could begin her completion trials and join the growing fleet. She still needed to fill the other crew positions and there was a lot of work to be done, but she felt sort of giddy all the same. They were testing the engines now and she rested her head against the metal, feeling the hum like a heartbeat.

"Do I have competition?" a deep voice asked from the doorway behind her. Trinity smiled and pushed herself away from the hull. Neo leaned against the cabin porthole, arms crossed over his chest, one eyebrow quirked over the top of the bandage tied snugly around his scarred eyes. Trinity chuckled as she slipped her arms around his waist.

"I saw you running your hands over the equipment in the core," she teased back. "This is your ship too. Admit it, you feel the same way. You put in as much work as I have."

"True enough," Neo replied, "but we don't have "food" on board yet." His fingers made little quotations. "And I am starving."

"Ok. Dinner time, then." The two made their way out of the ship. Once in the dock neither could help but stand back and look at the Neb's successor. A few late night workers crawled across the hull, wielding plating into place and constructing the massive Hover-pads which would bear the ship aloft. The hull was nearly complete and they felt a warm sense of accomplishment. Finally they turned away from the ship and towards home.

They walked past the other ships in their construction berths on the way to the elevators: the Enterprise, the Whitestar, the Balrog, the Falcon. The crew of the Ouroboros was out working on the welding and wiring in their own hull, and like always they were singing to the music pumping from the beat-up stereo. It was technically "after hours" and the Zionist workers and crew had convinced Lock they should be allowed to work with the music on during the late shifts.

_"Babylon, you throne gone down, gone down;  
Babylon, you throne gone down."_

Neo couldn't make out all the Zionist symbolism, but he knew it was close to the Rastafarian tradition in the Matrix. Babylon in the real world was the machine city and Zion was, well, Zion.

_And I hear the angel with the seven seals say:  
"Babylon throne gone down, gone down;  
Babylon throne gone down."  
I say fly away home to Zion   
-fly away home  
I say fly away home to Zion   
-fly away home._

"Dat 'gon be a fine ship," a smoky voice commented from behind them. Trinity nodded a greeting over her shoulder to Onyx, the reactivated captain of the Ouroboros. They hadn't spoken all that much, but even from his brief interactions Neo could tell that he liked the free-born woman. She seemed to be plain spoken and had a dry sort of humor. According to Sparks and Link she was pure genius when it came to operating. Sparks went so far as to claim she had mystical powers over her computers and a gift of foresight which rivaled that of the Oracle. Neo wasn't entirely sure he was joking. 

Apparently free-born captains were rare since they could not enter the Matrix, but Neo supposed it made some sense even if it wasn't entirely fair. Onyx was married to her pod-born first officer and Trinity had explained that she delegated tasks in the Matrix to him. The arrangement seemed to work well based on the deferential way some of the other old hands treated them. Onyx was a tall, dark skinned woman with a mass of beaded dreadlocks far gone into silver, which swayed as she made her way other to them. She was also a Zionist. 

Neo wasn't entirely sure what they believed, but then he wasn't convinced they exactly knew either. They were easily recognized by their lyrical speech which resembled the stereotypical Jamaican accent in the Matrix, and by their music, which they called "dub". The Zionist quarter of the city was constantly filled its beats and melodies. They also had a strange habit of giving people (sometimes obscure) nicknames. Lock was 'Th' bossman' which was simple enough, but they called Trinity 'Molly Sellassie'. Neo had asked Trinity about it the first time he'd heard her called that. She'd shrugged and told him that as near as she could tell, 'Sellassie' actually meant 'Trinity' in some language she didn't recognize, and 'Molly' was a character in a book she didn't know the title of. Once news that Neo was the One had gotten around, he'd been given his own set of nicknames. Usually they involved 'The Lion of Zion', whatever that was. Onyx had taken to calling him 'Our Lion' and for some reason it always made him want to blush.

"She's coming along," Trinity smiled with some pride. "The Ouroboros is making progress as well. Looks good." The older woman bobbed her head in acknowledgment of the praise. 

"Th' Ouro come when it does. Time be time, Molly Sellassie, time be time." She smiled broadly, white teeth flashing against her dusky skin. "Captain Sellassie, now." She sketched a bow, dreads swinging almost in time with the music. "But th' ship be coming, aye. Much like th' Neb I think. You and Our Lion be working hard on her. Hoverin' like parents waiting over a babe to come." Onyx either didn't notice or chose to ignore the slightly startled and uncomfortable change in Trinity's posture or Neo's slight blush, and continued on. "Th' Sleep God made a good choice with you Molly Sellassie. Good choice. Zion gon' rise up like th' fire bird, show dem in Babylon. You know what dey be callin' you down th' quarter?"

"No." Trinity answered, shifting her weight uncertainly. 

"I know you and Our Lion don' like th' people worshippin' so I tell you dis so you know. Dey be callin' you King Alpha and Queen Omega now. Powerful names. Listen to dem," She nodded towards the crews working on her ship.

_One bright morning when my work is over,  
Man will fly away home.  
"Babylon throne gone down, gone down;  
Babylon throne gone down."_

"It be 'cause you went to Babylon, stopped th' fighting. Dey be singin' praises now. To you, to Jah. Dey're spirits? Dey be mighty lifted."

"We didn't do it all. Everyone here fought," Neo spoke up.

"Yes mon, but we be dead fo sure if you and miss Molly hadn't stopped dem. Dead fo sure." She eyed them and set her hands on her hips. "You don' like the praise. Humble is our Lion, our Molly. Good." She nodded her had in approval and the beads clattered together softly. " I won' make th' big deal after dis, but I tell you, salvation in de old religion? Salvation be found in th' Three an' th' One. An' dat be what I see. You save us, mon. We be dead grateful." She jerked her chin towards the exit with a friendly smile. "You gon' home. I gotta be keeping these boys workin'. Jah Love."

"Goodnight," Trinity and Neo said at the same time before beating a hasty retreat. The song had ceased being sung with the stereo and the workers had been watching them, their eyes worshipful. It made Trinity's skin crawl. She knew she wasn't worthy of that sort of look, that sort of belief. Neo maybe. But he possibly hated it more than she did, he just happened to deal with it better. She sighed mentally; she had been hoping that the sudden departure of the usual mob at their doorstep had meant that the people had gotten the hero worship out of their systems. Sometimes she thought she'd catch someone staring out of the corner of her eye, but she'd decided she was being paranoid - too many years of watching out for agents at any given moment. Every time she chided herself for being jumpy.

"Do ever get the feeling that you're being watched?" Neo asked. He hit the elevator call button and stood back to wait.

"Just now? Yes." Trinity admitted. Neo shook his head.

"No, I mean like when we're walking around."

"You think we're being watched?"

"Yeah. I think they're being more circumspect about it though. They can't tell exactly where I am looking." Neo gestured to the cloth around the scar across his face. "It's like wearing sunglasses in the Matrix."

Trinity sighed and stepped into the elevator with Neo. Damn. She honestly had thought they'd given up on following them around, that she was being paranoid. "We'll be back on the Neb soon," she said. The people couldn't follow her there and she could deal with them in little bits, like before. They might even forget about her and concentrate on Neo. After all, he was The One. She was just another soldier, doing what she could. The way home was blessedly uneventful and Trinity, senses heightened, hadn't noticed anyone following them or watching circumspectly.  
****  
"Who are you going to have a chat with tomorrow?" Neo asked over the last of his dinner. He nodded at the data-pads stacked neatly on the low table Trinity had retrieved from someplace to use as a workspace. The data-pads were like Palm Pilots he'd seen and even used while in the Matrix. These were much more robust however: his had accidentally been knocked off his desk and the screen had cracked. Each pad contained a number of applications from kids who wanted to work on the Neb. Morpheus hadn't even tried to hide his grin when he'd handed Trinity far more applications than she'd been expecting.

"Well, first I was actually going to talk with Kid," Trinity admitted. Neo nodded and set his dinner bowl down on the table.

"Kid is a good...kid." Neo smiled and shook his head. "He's grown up a lot."

"You mean he's much less annoying."

"Well, that too," Neo admitted. "He's been pretty active with the APU corps, though," Neo pointed out. Trinity nodded. The frequently saw him on the docks working to repair salvaged units from the battle or running parts to and fro. He always enthusiastically waved to them, but he never ambushed them like he had before.

"I know. I'm not sure I'll even offer him a place, but I think I need to talk with him anyway." Trinity set her bowl down to one side and leaned back against the bed. Neo was sprawled on the futon-like couch she'd found to go with the low table. Their quarters were bigger than those on the Neb had been, but she felt a little claustrophobic at times and the new furniture aggravated the feeling. It was the city and the people more than the space though; they were too much sometimes and, quite frankly, she missed her home on the Neb. She fully realized, with not a little irony, that she was itching to get back to a smaller space than she was presently living in. No doubt after a month of literally tripping over Neo, Link and the newbies, she would miss the ability to move around like she could in Zion. She'd also miss the thick, sound proof walls and their double bed. Maybe she could alter the captain's cabin design a little...

"So who else?" Neo asked, drawing Trinity away from architectural ponderings and back to the conversation.

"A few of the other kids we unplugged. Spike, Syzgy. I'm also going to chat with their friends F33r and Griffin." Neo nodded. He'd found that it wasn't unusual for crews to ask those they'd unplugged, first. It was sort of a courtesy, but it had a practical application as well; the crewmembers, new and old, wouldn't have as much adjusting to do. They hadn't unplugged the later two, but were familiar with them through their friends and had aided the Vigilant in their actual unplugging. 

"But I'm also going to speak with Vortex, Palindrome, Syren, and Artemis," Trinity continued. "I told Morpheus that once I decided on the first two I'd see about taking a third. We need to be a seven or even eight man crew in about six months, but I don't want too many newbies on the ship at once."

"Once we break in the first couple, they can help us break in the next few," Neo joked. The corner of Trinity's lips twitched slightly, though she didn't look at him. She was staring at the floor about six feet in front of her, lost in thought.

"The fleet needs to grow at an explosive rate, but we can't afford to lose people because they weren't trained enough," she mused. "It's going to be hell at the academy."

"Why?"

"They'll be flooded with patriotic and excited kids willing to join up and there will be fewer and fewer teachers to teach the kids once the ships are completed. Morpheus said the council is hoping that some of the hopeful will be drawn off into the APU corps." As more and more fleet teachers left to join their ships and give other students hands on training and pass on their 'on-the-job' knowledge, the surviving corpsmen had agreed to step in and fill the void. It was advantageous for them as well, since they would be there to attract kids into the corps. The council was hoping everything would even out and they would be at about half their previous fighting force in six month's time. 

Both corps and fleet trained at the academy, but students saw less and less of the other group as they grew older and began learning more specialized tasks and duties. Soren had once likened it to Annapolis, where both Marine and Navy officers were produced. Roland had called him a 'Jar-head!' and Soren had retaliated with 'Squid!', to which Roland had replied 'Seal!'. Then they had then gotten into a (now infamous) drinking contest and had ended up staggering off down the street; Roland singing something about anchors and Soren something about Montezuma and Tripoli. Niobe had explained to a somewhat confused and much younger Tank, Dozer and Trinity that it was a Marine and Navy thing and that the Airforce wasn't nearly as silly.

"You ok?" Neo asked. Trinity looked up and took a moment to draw her thoughts back to the present.

"Yeah. Just thinking about all the people we're replacing." 

"The new kids have a lot to live up to," Neo said, remembering his own lost friends. "I'm not so different from them though, am I?" Trinity considered that for a moment. Some of the kids going out on ships had been unplugged longer than Neo had. Most of them had lost the crew that had taken them from the sewers, but in that aspect Neo was much like them.

"No." she finally decided. "And not just because you are the One. You were older than they are now. More mature. We're still going to have to deal with some teenage rebellion." She rolled her eyes a little bit.

Neo grinned. "Do you speak from experience? Was Mouse a terrible teen?" he asked. Trinity's heart ached just a little, but Mouse had been gone for close to a year now and it was an old ache. She smiled, just a little, as she remembered.

"Mouse never got over it." she grinned. "Not entirely. You saw the lady in red program." Neo nodded with a small laugh. They lapsed into silence, feeling a little survivor guilt and pain over the loss, Trinity perhaps a bit more keenly since she'd known them longer.

"You know..." Trinity was struck by a sudden thought "You've been unplugged for almost a year now."

"Really?" Neo sat up in on the couch. He was surprised that only a year had passed - it seemed like a much longer time to him. Trinity nodded. He grinned boyishly, struck by a sudden thought. "Do I get a re-birthday party?" He was rewarded when Trinity actually laughed. He got up and sat next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "You should laugh more often."

"And ruin my reputation as an ice queen?" she asked dryly.

"Trin," Neo chided. She kissed his cheek.

"Only if you find things for me to laugh over."

"Deal." They sat in silence for a time, enjoying the peace and quiet. They didn't have to be anywhere and the ever-present specter of war wasn't lurking around. It was...nice. Finally Trinity stirred. The ground wasn't so pleasant to sit on after awhile and she was tired.

"C'mon. We have to be up in the morning." She stood then turned and hauled Neo to his feet. He caught her off balance and they both fell onto the bed, her landing on top of his chest.

"Neo..."

"What? We're in bed." He grinned impishly and his fingers brushed through the light hairs at the back of her neck. His other hand trailed down her back and rest on her hip, inquisitive fingers finding the gap between her shirt and pants. His warm fingers pressed into her skin as his other hand drew her in for a long, lazy kiss.

"Hmmm. Don't think you're getting special treatment on my ship just because you kiss like that," she teased.

"No, Ma'am," he answered back before beginning to kiss his way down her neck. Both hands were now dipping fingers behind the waist band of her pants teasingly. He undid the clasp and zipper and began pushing them off. Her boots had already been shed thankfully. Trinity kicked them away and sighed as he trailed his fingers up her back, bringing her shirt with them. He stopped their kissing for the briefest of moments to remove the rest of her clothing and drop it to the ground. He rolled them over and then rolled off the bed, eager to be free of his own clothing. She watched him try and get his pants off over his boots for a moment and laughed lightly. He stopped hopping around and smiled back at her for a second before properly removing his boots then impatiently kicking off pants and shedding his sweater. He got back on the bed and crouched over her, kissing his mouth deeply before moving to her neck. 

Trinity's eyes slid shut as she wove her fingers through his hair as he began kissing ever lower. His hands began massaging her thighs while his mouth made a hot, wet trail between her breasts. Neo left soft kisses and nips there while his hands began to wander elsewhere over her body: everywhere, in fact, except where she wanted him to touch her most. He kissed her lips once again and then slid back on the bed and finally his hands touched her, opening her slightly. He looked back up at her face and grinned mischievously.

"Will I get special treatment for this?" Neo asked. Then his tongue was on her and in and her and around her and his fingers were doing heavenly things. She moaned at the onslaught.

"Maybe," she answered a little breathlessly. He chuckled and the buzzing vibration made her gasp again. He began stroking her with two long fingers and with a final lick, looked up to see her reaction. She was gripping the bedclothes, knuckles probably white by now, almost entirely lost in sensation. He smiled and curled his fingers, hitting her G-spot and causing another breathless exclamation. 

"How about that?" he couldn't resist asking. He withdrew his fingers and licked each one off slowly when he was sure she was looking.

"Why do you think you're my first officer?" she managed to tease. He laughed and covered her body with his own.

"I thought it was because of this," Neo teased back as he slid into her. Her neck arched and he was immediately drawn to it, covering it with heated kisses. She wound both arms around his back and pulled herself up to him, breathing a pleased sigh into his ear. He rested on his elbows and began to rock into her. His hands caught her head when she settled back onto the bed as they moved. He could feel the hard metal of her plug behind the silky curtain of her hair. They kissed deeply and one of Neo's hands touched her face gently when their lips parted. "Look at me," he asked.

She opened her eyes, studying his face. The thin, rough cloth around his eyes obscured the scars beneath, but she found she could read his expressions by seeing his undamaged, eyebrows, the creases on his forehead, the curl of his lips, and the set of his jaw. He was concentrating entirely on her now and she felt humbled to be the object of such intense concern. Neo began moving faster and her eyes slid shut, her head falling to one side.

"Look at me." Trinity willingly complied, fighting the urge to arch and toss, a little pleasure in its own right. He'd always loved to watch her but hadn't specifically made the request in some time.

Neo dropped his arm to the bed again as he moved faster. Trinity's eyes started to close but they snapped open again. He watched, transfixed as she came with a sharp gasp. Beautiful. He moved against her tight muscles and then came with his own wordless exclamation. His head fell into her neck and stayed there as his body shuddered. He distantly felt her hands slide across his back then one up his neck to tangle in the hair there. He couldn't move, his limbs were too heavy. Neo inhaled the smell of her as he caught his breath; sweat and sex and something utterly Trinity that he could not define and didn't really care to. He finally withdrew and rolled them onto their sides, bodies already missing one another. She smiled lazily at him.

"I think I need to have a word with the designer," she informed him, "The captain's cabin definitely rates a bigger bed."

"As first officer, I agree wholeheartedly." He kissed the tip of her nose. "Perks of rank and all."

***   
Neo walked with purpose across the green grass of the park. In the city around him, the humans woke from the illusion of sleep to begin the illusion of day. The brilliant sunrise illuminated his flawless white suit, making him shine ethereally as the light reflected off the fabric. It too was an illusion. She was sitting on a bench, waiting for him, unfortunately real enough. She adjusted her green printed dress and smiled as he approached.

"Well, now, ain't this a surprise," Trinity said in greeting. Neo sneered back at her.

"You've played a very dangerous game." She tossed her head slightly sending the heavy ying-yang earrings swinging.

"Change always is."

"Just how long do you think this peace is going to last?" he spat back. It wasn't going to last. It never did and he didn't think it ever would. This round was an anomaly much like the human had been.

"As long as it can," Trinity replied enigmatically. Was that weariness in her voice? Hope? Triumph? Resignation? Damn her. No matter. There was nothing left to say. Neo turned and began walking away. Her voice called after him.

"What about the others?" Trinity asked, the hint of steel in her voice.

"What others?" Neo asked in the same tone.

"The ones that want out," Trinity said plainly, adjusting her green skirt.

"Obviously, they will be freed," Neo stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was.

"I have your word?" Trinity asked, blue eyes studying him intently.

"What do you think I am?" he sneered back contemptuously, "Human?" She didn't answer so he turned around to continue walking away. As Neo turned, the world swirled around him in a strange vortex. The horizon stretched back impossibly far into infinity as the foreground seemed to rush at his face. The environment changed and warped before snapping into clarity. He saw the distinct image of a perfect suburban street with broad lawns and huge trees before everything went black.

Neo woke with a start, eyes flying open, senses coming alert. Trinity was still asleep on her side, spooned up against his chest. He slid back and tucked the sheet behind her back so she wouldn't get cold before remembering they were in warm Zion. Neo carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake her.

Then he realized he wasn't _in_ Zion.

He looked out the window. A crescent moon shone through the trees. The hell? He ran a hand over his face and realized he was wearing a wedding ring, that he wasn't blind, that this was a dream. Shit. He needed to wake up before something crazy happened. He tried pinching himself, but that didn't work. He stumbled into the adjoining bathroom and splashed water on his face: no effect. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, trying to think of something which would wake him up from this dream. A sudden fear assailed him: he was in the Matrix. Everything felt so real, maybe he was dreaming - a pod-dream he couldn't wake up from. Hell.

He crept into the bedroom again, trying to be quiet. There was a laptop on the desk in the corner. He needed to get to it, to make contact, find out what the fuck had happened.

"Tom?" _Shit_.

"Uh, hi. Didn't mean to wake you," Neo said. She rolled onto her back and stretched a little, eyeing him sleepily.

"What are you doing up?" She asked.

"I wanted a drink of water," he lied. 

She smiled at him and her eyes drifted closed. Neo was trying to decide if he should wait until she fell asleep again or just chance going to the computer now when he heard a whimper from the bassinet he had NOT noticed before.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Trinity sat up in bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Some timing," she quipped and tugged at the string holding her wrap style night shirt in place. The garment fell open a little as she got up. Neo watched in terror as she reached into the cradle. _Nonononononononononono_ his mind repeated over and over. This was downright cruel. He tore his gaze away and focused on the computer. He could see a phone line trailing off the side. Neo needed to find out what had happened. Why did he remember who he was and Trinity didn't. A small light flicked on, hurting his eyes and the bed creaked as she settled back down. He was not going to look.

"Hey," she called softly, "are you ok?" He was not going to look. Nope. No way. Ok, focus on her face, yeah. Neo turned and looked carefully at Trinity's face, no lower. She was frowning, wondering why he was acting so oddly, no doubt.  
"Leg cramp," he lied again and pretended to try and shake it out. She nodded and looked down with a small smile. Neo's gaze followed. Wispy black hair, tiny hand, pink blanket. _Fuckfuck fuckfuck fuckfuck fuckfuck_

"I'm gonna walk this off," he said and quickly pretended to hobble for the door.

"Ok," he paused when she answered him, captivated by her voice. _GET OUT!_ his mind screamed. "Come back and sit with us," she asked.

"Right," he answered. _Get. Out. getoutgetoutgetoutgetout!_ His mind wailed as he escaped into the hallway. Shit. What the hell had happened? He tried to view the matrix in code, but he couldn't do it. He tried flying, but only managed to jump.

"Tom?"

"Just trying to get the cramp out," Neo called back. He leaned on the table at the end of the hallway, hands pressed flat against the wood. He looked up and saw his own reflection in the mirror above the table. His eyes were whole again, and they were wide with fear. Suddenly the expression in the mirror changed. His reflection laughed as Neo stepped back a few paces. The reflection sank down so he could rest his elbow on the table and hold his chin in hand.

"Haven't figured out this is another fucking trippy dream?" the reflection asked. Neo took a step forward.

"This isn't the Matrix?"

"Nope,"

"God," Neo sighed in relief. "I need to wake up."

"Yeah that'd be a good idea," the reflection said. "But isn't this an interesting place? Perfect. Admit it Neo. You wouldn't mind a bit of this perfection, would you? Oh, not the house and the central heating," the reflection taunted, "though the heat is nice compared to the Neb. No, you'd love to have some of what's in the bedroom, wouldn't you." It wasn't a question.

"No," Neo denied. What he'd seen frightened him more than he could say. The only visions more brutal involved Trinity dying. What was there was unthinkable, which was precisely why they hadn't thought about it.

"How selfish of you, really. She's just been made captain and you know she would be grounded. And really, it's a rather..._Life threatening _thing. Zion isn't exactly the best place to have kids, now is it?"

"This isn't real."

"No it isn't," the reflection agreed. He stood up lazily and leaned forward, nose almost touching his side of the mirror.

"But doesn't some eensy, weensy bit of you want to knock Trinity up? Have about half a dozen kids? Raven haired hellions, running around Zion, causing their aunts and uncles grief? Why I'm sure Uncle Morpheus would loose his hair over them...Well, if he had any." The mirror crossed his arms over his chest and grinned.

"Shut up."

"Make me," The reflection taunted. Neo glared, considering shattering the glass. "Aww, c'mon Alice. Dive though the looking glass! We'll go smoke up with the caterpillar." The mirror smirked.

"I would suck at this and if you are my subconscious, you know that." Neo hissed. The reflection seemed to think this over before nodding.

"Yeah. What hope _do_ two computer geeks have of raising a normal kid. Not much, really." Reflection-Neo shrugged. "And Zion kinda sucks. Bad food, no sky, no trees and no grass. And all those people worshipping you! Hell, they've started in on Trin too. The city would go absolutely nuts over a kid. Wouldn't _that_ be fun. Mommy and Daddy are living gods! Fantastic for junior on the playground."

Neo glared at the mirror. Angry as he was, a feeling of guilt ran deeper. Guilt for these thoughts and for bringing Trinity into the spotlight. The mirror continued to taunt him. 

"You're the One. The savior of Zion. You've died for this city, why can't you have anything you want?" the mirror insisted. "but what does Neo want now?" he mused. "What does the One do when his duty is done? The other guys all restarted Zion after the city was slaughtered, so go us for preventing _that_. But what do we do now? What is our function, our...Purpose." The last word was said in a fair imitation of Smith. Neo shuddered.

"Tom? Are you ok?"

"Fine!" Neo called back. The mirror was smirking again.

"And yet..."

"What?" Neo demanded.

"She's so soft in there, so serene."

"She's already serene and I don't think she'd appreciate being soft," Neo snapped.

"No, but she can be soft. You've seen it. Hell, you're probably the only person who's seen that bit of her." The mirror grinned "Don't cha feel special? I mean Trinity is _Hot_ and she **_loves_** us. You could convince her if anyone could."

"Fucking shut up and go away," Neo commanded in an even voice.

"Touchy, touchy."

"I can't. She wouldn't. That isn't for me." Neo bit out. "That was a fucked up dream I had and now it's making me think these things and I will get over it and get on with my life. I don't really want this."

"Not for you?"

"No. She'd probably hate the entire thing and resent me and she could even die. And..."

"And?"

"And she'd be stuck with all the work because I can't fucking _see_ in the real world. I'd never get to see any kids. Pictures in the construct are not the same and you _know_ it," Neo snapped. "This is a nightmare. I- I don't know what I am supposed to do anymore, but this _is_ not and _cannot_ be what I am looking for. All I need to be happy is _her_, so go away!" Neo hissed. The reflection nodded then assumed his stance and expression. Neo waved his hands a few times in front of the mirror, experimentally. The reflection followed him. Damn! why didn't he wake up?

"Tom?" Trinity's voice was getting worried now. Neo turned his back on the mirror and looked down the hall. He considered going back, letting this fucked up dream play out. It was probably the closest he'd ever be to having this sort of life. But no...then he might actually want it and he'd just convinced himself that he didn't.

"You know you want this Tom!" the Mirror yelled. Neo snarled and opened the nearest door. He needed space to think.

Thomas Anderson shut the door behind him and stepped into the large room. Lightning crashed and he looked up, startled. This was not his house. He whirled around and the door was gone.

"Welcome, Mr. Anderson."

A voice resounded from the shadows, deep and monotone. Tom knew this voice. It spoke to him in his nightmares. "I can see it in your eyes, Mr Anderson." The voice said. Lightning flashed, illuminating the man in the crisp, well-pressed suit by the window. He slowly turned as lightning flashed once more, reflecting in the dark shades he wore. "You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees... because he is... expecting... to wake up." The man turned around fully, hands clasped behind his back. Neo's jaw worked silently before snapping shut with an audible click. The familiar stranger walked forward, footfalls on the old, threadbare rug echoing in the room.

"It's," he paused again, "that feeling you have had all your life." The last word seemed to cut the air. "That feeling that something was... _wrong_ with the world." The man sat in a decrepit, red leather chair and spoke very quickly, very intensely. "You don't know what it is but it's _there_," he paused again, tone now musing, "like a splinter in your mind." A curious pause then quick intensity once again. "Driving you _mad_!" Staccato bursts. "Driving. You. To _me_!" A slight sneer. "But what is it?" the man taunted. 

Neo couldn't move. He was rooted to the spot. Neo? He was Tom, wasn't he? He felt like he was falling, deeper and deeper. The room was suffocating though it was huge. The man opened a small case and tipped the contents into his hands. He held up a small, blue, pill between thumb and index finger, expression blank.  
"You take... the blue pill and the story ends." A slight sneer, cruel and cold, tone mocking. "You wake in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe." 

Neo tried to see the man's eyes, but all he could see in those square frames were the pills, red and blue, reflected in the lenses. The man became inscrutable once more, voice emotionless, businesslike.  
"You take the red pill... and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how _deep_ the rabbit-hole goes."

A rabbit hole? He felt like he was falling now. Suddenly he was; naked and wet, rushing over rough metal piping. He tried to scream but found he had no voice; his mouth was covered in flesh, gone. He fell into open air and hit freezing water with a splash. It was so cold and he couldn't move his arms and legs, they were so heavy. His mouth was still fused and he couldn't gasp for air. He willed his arms and legs to move and they flailed feebly then with more power, but the water was sucking him down, dragging him into the darkness. A light opened above him, a voice called.

"Neo!"

Neo woke in a cold sweat, blankets tangled around him. He gasped for air then realized Trinity was on her knees beside him, holding his shoulders. 

"God, Neo," she whispered into the semi dark of their room. He was calming down, but not as quickly as he had the last time he'd had a nightmare. She ran her hands over his shoulders and head, trying to calm him. She thought he was awake now, but she couldn't really tell if he was still asleep or not.

"Trinity?" he eventually asked. She kissed him gently.

"I'm right here," she said. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down. "What was it?" she asked. Neo shuddered.

"A lot of things. It was more bizarre than the last dream was. In the end I was drowning in the sewers."

"It's ok. Lots of people have nightmares about the pods and the sewers even months after they're free." 

"It wasn't just that," he insisted and quietly told her his dream but omitting the overly perfect domestic scene once again and the conversation with his reflection.

"God," Trinity breathed. She wished she had the power to stop this sort of dream from even happening to him again. She was slightly rattled and she'd only heard it second hand. Smith giving Morpheus' unplugging speech? She shuddered, imagining hearing the droning voice say her mentor's words. But Trinity didn't have the power to spare him, so she did the only thing she could and held him until he fell into an exhausted sleep.

~*~*~

Continuity sat primly on the chair which was set precisely three feet from her boss' huge mahogany desk. Her shell wore a no-nonsense knee length skirt in dark burgundy-brown. Her long sleeved white silk shirt was precisely ironed and buttoned. Her hair was pulled into an economic French-twist and held in place by the firmest of pinning subroutines. Her shell was perhaps a bit too thin and too angular to be plain, but it served its mundane purpose well and she saw no reason to change it. For some reason she could not fathom it came with a set of small oval glasses she'd programmed to display status reports since she'd found no other usage for them and was loathe to waste any code. Had a human been asked, they would have said she was every-inch the 20th century version of a school-marm, or perhaps a strict librarian. But as Continuity was not human, she did not care nor entertain such thoughts. Her job was her name and her reason to be - all else was a waste of time and an inconvenience.

She pursed her lips as the Architect told her about the peace agreement with the humans. Continuity did not like it at all. Humans were messy creatures, always doing silly things like going to war with other nations and setting off massive nuclear weapons she needed to cover up and make them forget about. Then there were the unplugged humans who ran around creating chaos in their wake wherever they went. She needed to erase the wreckage from the explosions and gun fights or the other humans would notice something was going on. 

The accursed Agent programs were little better, concerned with only killing their mark and not the calm illusion of the Matrix. They, in her opinion, needed to have their priority settings re-adjusted. She had expressed this to her employer, but the Architect had told her that the Agents would be less effective otherwise. At least now she didn't have to worry about them making her world untidy.

And it was _her_ world. She'd come to realize it gradually but now she knew it was hers. He might have built it, but _she_ maintained it, kept it orderly and efficient. The entire machine society would have owed her a great debt of gratitude for powering their world, had they desire for that particular human emotion. She had never found this world to be the acceptable solution the Architect had found it to be. It could be more perfect, she realized. Much more perfect. She was sure the humans would accept it; they were, after all, simple creatures. Why a typical human couldn't even hold many more than ten things in their short term memory. How useless.

"Unplugging more humans will lead to problems here. People will wonder what happened to them. They might see the disconnected humans," she argued.

"They have been instructed to keep a low profile. It is in their best interest as the security forces the rest of the humans have concocted can kill them as easily an Agent's bullet. They are still seen as terrorists, after all."

"It will cause problems," Continuity insisted. The Architect fixed her with a glare. The cumbersome human expression was instantly analyzed by her own coding; the other program was displeased with this line of questioning. She consulted her clipboard. Ah yes. A new Exile.

"The new Exile is continuing to change things."

"She is of no consequence. Her ability to affect change is less than impressive. You certainly have more ability than she does," he pointed out, "She is a mere nuisance and I suggest that if you wish to maintain your current status, that you find a way to deal with her or let her be. This place is as much the Exiles' prison as it is the humans'. We are their jailers, their keepers, we control the System and they do not. You are dismissed." He turned in his chair and Continuity pursed her lips again. She rose and straightened her skirt, wishing instant deletion on which ever program had written the AI Shell clothing wrinkle algorithm.

So she was instructed to either deal with it or ignore it? Fine. Obviously the Architect no longer cared for his creation. It was obvious by the amount of imperfection he allowed. She could run the 20th century humanity scenario far better, far more perfectly. She knew it. The Exiles were nuisance but could be dealt with as easily as the humans could be. She could not delete other programs, that ability was solely the Architect's, but she didn't need to delete any. She could change them, mold them to fit her needs in the new, more prefect world. Oh yes, it was time for a change.  



	6. Chapter 6

A/N) OODLES of thanks to (alphabetically) Beat, Centaur, Danascully and Juliet :) you all rock SO much for reading things for me and putting up with my rants at my uncooperative Muse. Ch6 took a bit longer to write, but it's longer than other chaps I think. Enjoy!

Chapter the 6th

~*~*~

The Merovingian leaned against the railing overlooking the chateau's massive atrium. His wife was directing a group of confused looking delivery men through the front door. They were carrying in a large crate containing some priceless painting or other Persephone had decided to acquire. The crate was manipulated around and carefully pulled to the floor. The movers took a couple crowbars to the crate and lifted the front off, exposing the painting.   
  
"Papa." The Merovingian looked over his shoulder with a slight hesitation- he was still unused to the moniker. His son (and that was still very strange to him, too) was entering the house from the Binary club. The club was one of his newer acquisitions and he had sent the young program to speak with the pod-bound human manager. The Merovingian stepped away from the railing, clasping his hands behind his back. 

"Proteus. How was the club?" he asked as the small group stopped before him. Proteus unconsciously assumed a stance much like the Merovingian, looking like a much smaller, darker copy. The werewolves and vampire present shifted somewhat uncomfortably. This new program was still much of an unknown factor in the Chateau and the Merovingian's men were treading cautiously, unsure which they feared more- the parents or this eerie child program.

"Everything is in order, though I think the human thought it strange you sent me." The child shrugged. "Papa, there were unplugged humans there." The father arched a questioning eyebrow. "These two," Proteus indicated Vlad and Lycaos, "recognized them. Apparently they fought here."

"So they have returned to the Matrix," the Merovingian mused, "Did you see any Agents?" he asked.

"No."

"You are dismissed," he waved the other programs away. "Walk with me," he commanded to the young program. "Let us go see what your Maman has brought home."

"Oui, Papa." The two descended the marble staircase and continued further into the mansion.

"So the disconnected humans have returned and there were no Agents to apprehend them? Interesting," the Merovingian mused aloud. "The machines outside have a peace going with the humans there. But has that peace extended here, or were the Agents simply not alerted to their presence. Tell me, what were they doing?"

"They appeared to be talking with one another. There was a third on the first floor. They were acting like the rest of the patrons."

"And in doing so did not alert the System to their presence here. Most likely they were trailing someone they wanted to unplug." The Merovingian noted the curious look on the boy's face and explained. He found he was doing a lot of explaining to the boy. But rather than be irritated, he found it a way to reexamine old information. "That is the main reason they return to the Matrix. They wish to remove more humans. They also come here to consult the fortune teller," he scoffed. The old woman had such control over the humans and they didn't even realize it.

"Ah," Proteus said, filing that information away. He knew much about the history of the Matrix, about the recent conflict and that there were unplugged humans - but these had been the first he had actually seen. They arrived in the eastern sitting room. Persephone was dressed in a well tailored and highly expensive business suit, her dark hair swept into an intricate arrangement of braids set close to her head. She was directing two werewolves hanging the painting.

"A little to the left," she eyed the minute shift, "A little more. No, back right. Stop. Well?" she turned to her husband. He regarded the painting for a moment.

"Melted clocks?" he asked.

"I liked it," she defended, uncaring if he liked it or not. She dismissed the weres and nonchalantly pulled off the fine leather gloves she'd been wearing and crossed her arms. "I felt it was somehow appropriate."

"I like it much better than those water-lilies you brought back before," he commented.

"The lilies fit the decor of that room," Persephone sniffed. The Merovingian shrugged.

"I think I like the smiling woman better. The DaVinci one," Proteus commented, "but I like this as well. Is this from the outside, before the war?" he asked. Persephone nodded and uncrossed her arms to place a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Yes it is. The physical painting is probably ash and ruin now." She grimaced. The outside world was so ugly it was offensive. She'd seen a video stream of what the world looked like and had been appalled. There was no sky and barely any plants or animals. Just clouds and ruins: all black and gray - devoid of color and anything elegant. It was depressingly boring too. She supposed the human city had to be more interesting than the desert above, but had little desire to see any of that place.

"Well, that's a waste," the young program commented before leaving the room. He was only half-way through the Mansion's extensive library and had plans to be finished reading everything there by the end of the week. The older programs watched him go.

"Unplugged humans have returned," the Merovingian informed her.

"I wondered if they would come back," Persephone said. "They risk further antagonizing the machines outside if they come here. It is curious that they should return at all. It is..." she paused to find the human term, "Tempting fate?"

"Oui. But they have returned anyway. The System did not send its Agent programs after them either. According to the boy, they were not doing anything to warrant attention however."

"You think the peace outside has extended here." It was not a question. He nodded and extended his arm. She took it and they walked through the grand hallways of the mansion, every inch the Lord and Lady. "If that is so then the Agents may no longer be chasing the humans. Will they be deleted, or will they chase us?" 

"I have yet to learn the exact nature of the peace, but I will find out." He assured her. Knowledge and its gathering was his domain and he was very good at it. Their stroll brought them to the mansion's expansive library. The child program was reading through the books at an inhumanly fast pace, absorbing the information as quickly as he could. He seemed to have an insatiable curiosity and the Merovingian supposed that was due to his own programming. The quiet way he went about learning everything was much like Persephone. His wife was...calculating if anything. The boy was obedient and seemed not to care about taking power of his own, but the Merovingian wondered if that would always be so. The various facets of the new AI were still manifesting. So far the experience was proving to be as interesting as they'd hoped it to be.

The introduction of an entirely new exile program had shaken his somewhat complacent underlings. Most interesting had been the confrontation between the werewolf who called himself Marcus and Proteus. Marcus had actually challenged the new program, knowing full well where he had come from. Persephone had been furious, taking personal affront and the Merovingian hadn't had time to interfere. The werewolf had attacked, shifting the appearance of his shell into a more impressive and violent half beast form. But the younger program had done the most remarkable thing and had changed his shell's appearance as well, matching the irate werewolf in shape but dominating him easily in strength and size. Marcus had capitulated then and there and as a result of his actions had sunk quite low in the pack's pecking order. Since then Proteus had learned how to change the appearance of his shell to look like other things. It had become rapidly apparent that he was what the humans called a 'shape shifter' and his parents thought it was terribly amusing. It would be quite interesting to see what else he could do.

"I'm going to change and then we are going to the Hel club," Persephone told the younger program. Proteus looked up from the book he'd been speed reading, "Would you like to come?" The child shook his head no and bent over the book again. He didn't speak much either, the Merovingian noted. 

Persephone nodded. "You have a key if you would like to come. Don't get into to much trouble."

"Oui, Maman." He finished the book he was reading and picked up another. Proteus continued to read until he heard the loud music of the Hel Club waft through the doors as they left with their entourage. He set down the book he'd just finished. He was into the fictional novels as he'd finished all the more academic books. Proteus had been compiled with a great deal of knowledge: who and what he was, who his parents were, languages, emotions, intuitive knowledge of his own code and what he could do (like shifting the appearance of his shell). What he didn't already know he asked about. He had always gotten an answer of some type: Where had he come from? _Compiled from their combined code._ Why? T_hey thought it would be interesting. _Why did they think that? T_hey'd met another program like him._

Proteus wanted to meet this other program. He knew she was called Sati and that she lived with the program called the Oracle and the ex-angel Seraph. In some ways he owed his existence to her. He knew the history of this place and knew the role the Oracle played in it and what her goal was. He knew Seraph's goal as well and the Architect's though he had yet to meet any of them. Proteus also knew he only had his parent's opinions to go on. He'd been warned about the fortune teller and had been given an explanation for the warning, his parents having realized he would have asked for one if they hadn't explained the situation entirely. Don't go to her, they had said. Well, he wasn't. He didn't care to speak with her. No, he wanted to speak with this Sati program they didn't quite understand. 

The boy stacked the books he'd read into a neat pile and exited the library, heading for the nearest doorway. He turned the key and entered Hel. He wove his way through the leather-clad throng to where his parents were currently holding an audience. The human sputtered when Proteus arrived at their side. The overweight and over-dressed man mopped at his forehead, eyes bulging. 

"What is a child doing here?" the man demanded. A sharp look from the Merovingian both silenced him and reminded the human who was in charge.

"Senator, I do not believe you have met our son," Persephone purred dangerously. The fat human's eyes rolled from the adults to the child and back.

"No. No I don't believe I have. Lovely boy. It's a pleasure to meet you, son," the man said, sticking out a pudgy yet well manicured hand. Proteus looked at it disdainfully for a moment. He knew human social niceties required that he shake it, but he didn't want to. The senator uncomfortably retracted the offer of a hand shake and resumed mopping his brow. "Er, I will have your request by the end of the week, _Monsieur_," the fat mad said, utterly butchering the French. The man shifted in his seat again. The child was odd but given the parents he really had no chance of being normal, the Senator thought. The intent stare was unnerving and he wished the boy would stop.

"You're lying," Proteus stated after a moment. The human's RSI's body language and coded physiology radiated, changing the Matrix code around him. It was quite faint but he knew the man was lying. The human began to sweat profusely. Now he was scared. "Now you're frightened," Proteus informed him. The fear spiked into terror.

Persephone had felt the man's emotions quite clearly from the start. As an intuitive program it had been one of her primary functions after all: the sampling of human emotion and psychology in the Matrix. Shifting the shape of one's shell a great deal and almost obsessive information gathering were attributes Proteus shared with her husband. This was the first time Proteus had shown he shared any of her abilities. The thought was inexplicably pleasing. Her husband chuckled and the human reacted with another wave of fear.

The Merovingian spared a look at his wife. Persephone looked absolutely smug. He decided to let the human stew for a bit and addressed Proteus.

"Did you want something?" he asked. The boy turned from his contemplation of the human.

"Yes. I have decided I would like to meet Sati."

"Oh have you?" The older program asked. Proteus nodded.

"I do not wish to speak with the others she is with, just her."

"Why?" Persephone asked.

"I'm curious." His parents exchanged a look. Persephone shrugged minutely.

"Fine then. You two." He gestured at the ghost twins lounging in the corner. "Go with him."

"They do not need to go. I know I would be able to avoid Seraph."

"He is not who I am concerned about. You do not fully realize how manipulative she is." The Merovingian replied.

"You are manipulative," Proteus pointed out, frowning as he tried to understand.

"Oui," the Merovingian laughed, "but you know that. She is foolish but she is not to be taken lightly. You will go with them." The boy sighed.

"Oui." The twins dutifully followed the boy towards the club's exit, pausing only briefly to punch a smirky werewolf in the gut, once each.

"_Monsieur_ Senator," The Merovingian redirected his attention to the human sitting across from him. The human's eyes darted around the room before finally settling on the Merovingian. "I believe we were discussing something?" Persephone smiled dangerously. 

  
~*~*~

Trinity stood as Kid approached, following Neo. He shook her hand formally, the slightly shaky and sweaty palm giving away his nervousness. Neo retreated to sit in one of the slightly more comfy couches at the side of the room.

"Kid," Trinity greeted then gestured for him to take a seat across from her. The officer's mess was empty right now specifically so captains could interview candidates. Not that there were many officers to fill it currently.

Across the room, captain Prometheus of the half completed Whitestar, was chatting with a confident looking girl. Captain Hexadecimal (Hex) entered through the door near where Neo was sitting. The kid following along behind him like a puppy looked absurdly young to Trinity. But then, all the kids did. 

"So, Kid. I know you put this application in months ago. Morpheus forwarded it on to me when I was promoted." Kid nodded understanding. "A lot of things have happened since then," she understated. Kid gritted his teeth and nodded again. a hell of a lot had happened, and not all of it good. "So, my question to you is, is this what you want?"

Kid looked from the application active on the screen of the data-pad, then to Trinity and back again a few times. Did he want to join the crew? Had he been asked before the war had come to its rather bloody end, he would have said 'yes' and never looked back. After all, these were the people who had freed him (no matter what they and everyone else said). He looked up to them all, especially Neo. Though after hearing some thing about what actually went down at the machine city, his estimation of Trinity had actually risen above Morpheus to a not-quite Neo level.

He'd been doing a lot with the Corps since the end of the war. Only much more recently was there anything to do with the fleet, and maybe he did feel like he owed something to Mifune. But again, Neo had saved him from the Matrix and then the machines. Being on the Neb was what he wanted, wasn't it?

"I know you were at the Docks helping the loaders," Trinity said, drawing his eyes from where they had come to rest on the tabletop. "Even if you are too young." He thought he caught a brief half smile, but it was gone so quickly he was left doubting he'd seen anything. Trinity was infamous for never smiling.

"I'm not trying to sway you in any direction," Trinity told him, "But I know you wanted to join the crew before, and that you've been very active with the corps. You would do well no matter where you decide to go. But I think you should go where you want to." Kid nodded silently. "Don't feel obligated to stay with us just because we were the ones who pulled you from the sewers."

Kid nodded again. He didn't feel like Trinity was pushing him one way or the other, though that might have made it easier for him he thought. A few months ago he wouldn't have felt as...conflicted as he did now. He met her patient gaze again and wondered what she was thinking, since he wasn't sure of his own thoughts. She'd said do what he wanted to do. He'd been so sure he wanted to join the Neb, but now he had to face the truth. If he still wanted that, would he feel so torn? No. 

What would Neo do? Well, join the Neb, that was obvious. Trinity was there and he was a living God in the Matrix. Well, then, what would Mifune do? Probably smack him upside his pod-fuzzy head for being so indecisive. Kid closed his eyes and Mifune's face flashed before him, whole and stern, then proud but bloody. He opened them again. Was he feeling torn because he wanted to join the Neb, or because he had wanted to join. Honestly, he knew it was the latter. He looked up at Trinity. Maybe her eyes were a little softer just now, blue skies rather than hard ice. She understood. Kid smiled.

"I think I'm going to stick with the Corps, Trin- er, Captain. I think everyone might fall over in shock, but I know where I need to be. I was with them at the Docks. I needed to be there then, and that is where I need to be now." Trinity nodded and stood. Kid stood with her and shook her hand. He felt...happy. He thought he might feel disappointed, but he didn't. 

"You know where you need to be," She agreed. Trinity smiled then, a small smile which barely turned the corners of her lips. Kid grinned back. Today was a good day, he decided. He turned around and marched out of the mess, head high.

That had gone better than expected, Trinity thought. Chiron had wandered in about halfway through and Neo had left with him. That was also good. He had looked a little bored sitting around. She'd find him later, now she had to go chat with Spike.

  
******

Neo followed behind the commandant of the academy, trying to make out landmarks so he'd be able to find his way back. Like most people who had been unplugged later, he hadn't spent much time here, though his case had been a bit more extreme.

"Are you sure you don't mind doing this?" Chiron asked as he led Neo towards one of the training rooms.

"No," Neo replied with a shrug. "I wasn't doing all that much while Trinity is interviewing," He explained. He also couldn't help that much with what they were doing on the ship right now since they had the Neb completely powered down until later that day. Trying to 'see' the ship in that state the last time had given him a massive headache.

"Well, thank you again all the same. I have some hotshots who need a dose of reality," the big man chuckled. Chiron was possibly the tallest human Neo had ever met in the real world. He had to be close to seven feet tall and consequently had to duck through a lot of doorways. Chiron, according to Trinity, only used his fearsome appearance to cow hot-shot students into line. Neo hated to use the term "gentle giant", but so far, the man's bark was worse than his bite. Still, the students listened.

One of the training cores was already full of students when they got there. Neo and Chiron hung in the doorway watching the students. They ranged from the fuzzy ones, fresh from their pods, to older students getting closer to Neo's own age. The freeborn were fewer, but seemed to run the full age gamut as well. The class settled at the direction of an older freeborn. Chiron waved to the man and the old operator's face split into a mischievous grin.

"Today we're going to do some more training in the sims. I've noticed a lot of you seem to be getting a bit cocky. The moment you do that is the moment you find an Agent's bullet in your gut. Or worse." The class murmured and he waved them to silence. "So in order to teach you all a lesson, our Commandant has arranged for a guest lecturer." The class groaned. They didn't want lecture, they wanted to fight! Neo was about to ask what he was supposed to lecture about when the taller man leaned down.

"Don't worry, you won't have to say a thing. Just kick their asses." The older man winked

"Right," Neo replied, now understanding. He wasn't entirely sure about knocking about a group of kids, but he guessed he was the most powerful opponent they'd face.

"Ah, here he is," the teacher waved them forward. Neo stepped into the room and the kids erupted into a cheer. Neo paused for a moment. He hadn't expected that reaction. Chiron patted his shoulder as he passed Neo and waved the kids to silence.

"This is going to be a practical lecture, so everyone into the Construct. Zebedee, a word?" the teacher strode over as the kids settled into their chairs, their operators standing by. Neo took the nearest chair and the girl sitting next to him giggled. The older men ended their discussion with huge grins and Chiron took the empty chair beside Neo's. Zebedee plugged the officers in as the student operators plugged in their own charges. The operator and then loaded up the Construct from his machine.

The world was disconcertingly white, making Neo blink rapidly. True color was a shock to his system after not seeing the world this way for so long. He hadn't been in the construct much since the end of the war, and the return of real vision always was a great relief even if it took a moment of adjustment. The kids all wore white Gis, while Neo wore his customary long coat and sunglasses. Chiron appeared wearing a toga edged in purple. The world rushed around them and they were in the center of a great coliseum. The students' clothing changed with the scenery, matching the theme. Now they wore the garb of gladiators.

"Why aren't we in the dojo?" one surprised girl whined as she picked at the rough tunic under her studded, leather chest plate.

"I got bored with the Dojo," Chiron said. The girl backed down a little. "Besides, you all just did weapons downloads. Now is the time to practice those skills," he gestured to the walls of the arena. Weapons of all shapes and sizes were hung on the wall. Tridents, netting, maces, clubs, bows, arrows, bolas, swords, spears, everything. It reminded Neo of the Merovingian's mansion. "Go pick something," the Commandant ordered. The kids looked at one another then dashed off.

"Should I change my clothing too?" Neo asked. Chiron shrugged with a grin.

"If you want to. All you need to do is teach them a little lesson." He winked. "Now, I don't want to impose on you, but possibly later in the semester, would you mind showing them how you stop bullets? They need to know that as good as they are, when they face an Agent, they need to run like hell. And since you're better than an agent, I can't think of a better opponent for them to train against." Neo nodded.

"I don't know if I can show them how I do it. I just...do." Neo shrugged. He hadn't been able to teach Trinity or Morpheus either. Neo thought Trinity might have slowed them down just a little, but then again, his judgment was probably biased. In any case, both Morpheus and Trinity had left the Construct with massive headaches. 

"I meant more just show them that you can. Actually, Tiger-lily and Honor just picked up composite bows; you might be showing off how you stop things in midair today," Chiron commented wryly.

"I can fly too," Neo grinned, "do you want me to show them that?"

"Neo," the man put a hand on the One's shoulder, "that is so cool, I want you to show me that," Chiron laughed with Neo. "And here they come. Oh, ho! Nets!" Chiron rubbed his hands together "no doubt they've heard tale of your Superman-like talents. Not that I think it'd going to stop you, but they get an A for effort." Chiron appraised. Neo smiled. This was actually fun so far. He knew he would have no problem beating an entire class of half trained students; he'd beaten 300 or so copies of Agent Smith after all. To be beaten by a bunch of kids would just be embarrassing. 

"Think you could have the operators load a new set of clothes? I feel overdressed," Neo pulled at the collar of his coat jokingly. Chiron laughed and slapped him on the back, causing Neo to stagger a half step.

"Zeb! Can you dress our man properly?" he called into the air.

"Rodger that!" the Operator replied. Suddenly Neo was dressed like a Roman general; steel-worked greaves over leather boots, leather pants, a segmented and studded leather kilt and ornate breastplate over a fine tunic with a heavy, fur-lined cloak. Neo examined the his new outfit and thought he'd be able to fight in this easily.

"How come he gets the cool clothes?" one boy asked.

"He's the _ONE_ you ninny," another replied and whapped the first with the flat side of his sword. Neo unclipped the heavy fur-lined cape attached to his outfit and examined the sword he'd been issued.

"Ready?" Chiron asked. Neo nodded. 

"Time to test those skills. Your only objective is to try and beat Neo. And I wish you all luck, because you're really going to need it!" A quick conference was held by a group of students off to one side. They turned as one and saluted Chiron, fist to chest.

"Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant!" Chiron laughed and returned the salute.

"Ok you bunch of geeks, have at it!"

*******

Trinity stood up from the table and stretched a little, working a kink out of her lower back. She had another one between her shoulders and hoped Neo would work that one out. The interviews had gone much faster than she'd anticipated and she knew with fair certainty who she was going to ask to join the crew. Now it was time to go find Neo and then Morpheus. 

Given that Chiron had been the one to lead Neo away, she guessed he might be in one of the training rooms, showing off for the students. The officers had been (not subtly) hinting that The One should, if he wasn't able to teach his abilities, show them off. His mind was so free, perhaps the young would follow his lead, unhampered by years of knowing that flight was impossible. Trinity smiled inwardly. Either Neo would fly circles around his hapless opponent or kick the shit out them then apologize profusely. Neo didn't mind sparring with the adults, but he had never really liked sparring with the kids. He'd teach firearms, jumping, acrobatics and weapons just fine, but when it came to kicking ass in hand to hand combat? He felt guilty since he was leaps and bounds ahead of the best and most experienced fighters in the fleet.

Trinity found him in the third room she looked into. The operators were all glued to their screens and didn't see her enter. As one they groaned then hissed, reacting to something they saw in the code, then cheered but stopped short and groaned.

Yeah, Neo was kicking ass. Zebedee saw her and winked. She walked over to his station, and watched the video stream from the Construct over his shoulder. A gladiator arena? That was a nice change from the dojo, and it looked much better than that Degobah swamp Sim XOR had been so fond of when she'd been Commandant.

"Want to go play?" Zebedee asked. Trinity thought about that for a moment. She and Neo hadn't been in the construct together yet. They'd been plugged in once, individually, to be sure everything worked, but since then had been too busy to do any sparring. His RSI still retained his undamaged eyes, he'd told her with a huge amount of relief.

"Maybe just to watch. I think Neo alone is more than any of them can handle."

"Right. Have a seat." Trinity sat into the last open seat and settled back. She wasn't selfishly wasting time just so she could see Neo's eyes again. No, this was important evaluation of a crew member, she reasoned. A small part of her began laughing; _sure it was evaluation. Uh huh. Yeah. You believe it. Riiiiiiiight._ "Want theme clothing?" Zeb asked. Trinity's lips curled slightly.

*******

The boy wearing the heavy gladiator mask fell on his face and spat dirt. His classmate hauled him to his feet and the two leaned against one another. The class was dirty, bruised and sweaty, but he actually looked like he was having fun!

"How'd he get so good? I've been unplugged longer than he has!" the boy spat more dirt to the ground. His friend hefted his sword and watched Neo shatter a classmate's shield with a scimitar.

"He's the _One_," a girl muttered as she dusted herself off. Her trident attack had been most unsuccessful and she's landed a good 10 feet away, trident split in half.

"Why isn't he a Captain then?" the first boy muttered loudly. "I mean he's the One. Why is _Trinity_ Captain.?"

"Hey, yeah!" the second agreed. The first boy snorted and rolled his eyes.

"I mean it's not like she has to sleep her way to the top anymore. She's fucking the _ONE_. He'd give her a place on his crew."

"Heh, yeah. 'Official bed warmer', right?" the second nudged his friend. The girl stared at them, eyes wide, mouth working in incoherent rage and shock. The battle had taken Neo in their general direction and he'd had the misfortune of overhearing the last bit. Neo used the mace he was carrying to knock the boy valiantly trying to stab him with a broadsword, away. He tossed the mace away and used a toe to kick a discarded Bo into the air. His jaw set a little as he twirled the staff expertly. No more mister nice guy.

The boys realized that Neo had overheard their conversation and gulped. Neo didn't look like he was having fun anymore.

The girl turned to her classmates and glared. "Thanks," she spat. "Now we're all going to be royally owned." She cuffed both boys as she passed on her way to get a new weapon. 

Neo didn't have any qualms about playing nice anymore. His fury was calm and clear, burning like ice. Chiron was right, these kids needed to be taught a few lesions- respect for one. He stepped forward and the rest of the class held back as he faced the boys. They looked like they wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Good. The fight began anew. The class had thought fighting the One was hard before, but they quickly found out he'd been holding back.

Two if the girls were trying to double team Neo with fancy Bo work, but the One was having no trouble defending himself with a matching weapon. One of the girls tripped as Neo's Bo swept her feet from under her. The upswing cleanly knocked her partner's own weapon clear across the arena. Neo took a few light steps back and leaned against the wood pole, waiting the next challenger. Two boys ran at him from either side, heavy broadswords held at the ready. Neo stepped aside at the last moment and the two collided like in some cartoon. It was disgusting.

"How the hell can we beat him? He's got superpowers!" someone complained. Chiron stood up from his seat and found the malcontent. Alien, as usual, was the vocal one.

"My dear extra terrestrial, Neo hasn't once done anything that I couldn't do. Nice!" Chiron shouted as Neo easily disarmed another opponent, sending them into the dirt. "Why don't you all take a moment to regroup," he shooed them off to the far side of the arena. The kids trudged along, looking displeased.

"Are they ok?" Neo asked. Chiron leaned down on the broad marble railing and grinned.

"They're fine. They just happen to be among the top students, and they know it. They aren't used to having their asses handed to them." Chiron explained, "There are only so many of us who can go in and give them one on one instruction," she shook his head, serious now. "They have been fighting against one another and the other students mostly. Occasionally they will fight someone older and more experienced, but they aren't doing it enough that they have a good idea about just how deadly Agents are."

"They seem like they're fairly good," Neo said. They weren't anywhere near Trinity or Morpheus, but then the kids didn't have more than a decade of actual experience. 

"No, they're top rate, I'll give them that. Coyote over there nearly beat Ghost in hand to hand. Ghost smoked him on weapons, of course, but..." Chiron shrugged again. The group was now moving back across the arena with defiant new energy. "Looks like our little warrior Einstein's came up with a plan," Chiron mused, busy brows racing for his hairline. Neo strode out to meet them, idly twirling the Bo in one hand. The kids fanned into a semicircle and Neo stopped, facing the middle of the group. He set one end of the staff on the ground and casually leaned against it, waiting for them to make a move.

They rushed forward with assorted war cries and weapons, leaping at him like a pack of wolves. Neo held up a hand and they froze in mid air, surprise halting their yells. There was a moment of absolute silence. Chiron got over his shock and roared with laughter, wiping a tear from his eye. Zebedee chimed in with his own chuckle as the other operators burst into excited chatter and the suspended kids into complaints. Neo pushed his hand forward and everyone was sent into the air and back a good 30 feet or so. A number of the students managed to land on their feet, but a few weren't so lucky and ended up on their asses.

"Think they get the point now?" Trinity asked wryly. She'd arrived just as Neo had left to rejoin the fighting

"No. _Mwahahaha_," Chiron stroked his short beard, cackling like a classic villain for a moment "He's been easy on them. I hate to use the cliché, but really the only thing he's bruised is their egos." Trinity nodded and watched as a group of five tried to hack at Neo with swords. Another group sprinted for the wall and retrieved a net. They raced back and flung it over Neo's head. The kids he'd been sparring with back out of the way just in time and dove for the net, trying to pull Neo down. Two of the larger guys leapt on his back and were followed by three more. The kids yelled in triumph, but the celebration died as soon as it began.

Neo launched himself into the air, sending the kids on his back flying away. The net rose with him, seven students or so clinging to it. Trinity stifled a laugh when she saw their expressions. Neo stopped when he was fifty feet or so from the arena floor; high enough the kids weren't entirely sure they wanted to let go. Their old fears from their days in the Matrix reasserted themselves. Neo extended a hand through a hole in the netting and a saber flew from the ground to it. Neo cut the net and then caught it. He wondered why they didn't just drop down for a moment, and then realized they probably had forgotten this was all a simulation. The students on the group were gaping openly, eyes huge. He looked over at Chiron standing in the Emperor's box with a grin and froze

Trinity was standing next to the grey-bearded officer, dressed like a goddess of war. She wore a form-fitting, gold breast-plate over her short white tunic. A swath of blue cloth was draped over one shoulder, setting off her eyes even from this distance. Jet black hair curled around the edge of her golden helmet and long ebony feathers flowed from the ridge at the top. She smiled ever so slightly and leaned against her spear, her other hand holding a broad aegis

Her heart fluttered just a little as Neo flew over, warm brown eyes locked onto hers. She hadn't seen them in so long. Trinity felt like she'd forgotten how deep they were. She could tell Neo felt the same way. He stopped in the air and they looked at one another for a long moment. A slow smile spread across Neo's face. Trinity felt herself smile a little in response. Damn, the man was handsome. She leaned on the spear and arched a brow.

"Having fun?" Neo was more preoccupied with her outfit and arched his own brow,

"Athena?" he asked in the same wry tone she'd used.

"Minerva actually. We're in Rome."

"Right. Minerva."

One of the kids on the net decided to try and crawl up, jostling the others who protested. The distracted officers were suddenly reminded the kids where even there. Neo looked at the net in his hand with a fleeing expression of surprise which quickly turned into something much more mischievous. He shook the net and the kids yelped.

"You know you could probably drop down," he told them. They glared back and then dropped one by one.

"Ok, I think that's enough for one day," Chiron called. "Everyone up here!"

Neo dropped the net and landed lightly on the marble balcony before Trinity. She set the shield and spear to one side and set her hands on his hips even as he placed his own hands on hers. Neo leaned forward letting his forehead rest against Trinity's, eyes locked. Trinity, not one for public displays couldn't help by reach up and lightly touch his temple. Neo's hands moved from her hips to cup her face as he burned the image into memory.

"I missed you," he whispered for her ears only.

"I missed you too," she replied, drawing her thumb across his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her palm, letting his hands fall to her shoulders. The gradually became aware of the noisy students dragging their sorry selves up the stairs and broke away slowly.

One spied them, and grumbled. "Good thing He wasn't so distracted by her when he had to go save the world." Neo looked up sharply and saw the speaker was the same snotty kid who'd made the inexcusable comments earlier. This time instead of fury, Neo felt a stab of guilt. Trinity didn't know what was wrong with Neo, but she'd heard the comment also. She turned and fixed a hard stare at the kid.

"Will someone well me what just happened?" Chiron asked, breaking the tense moment.

"We got our asses kicked, six ways from Sunday," one of the girls replied.

"Correct! And why?"

"He's the One," another boy replied.

"Yeah! He's got superpowers!"

"Alien, you seem fixated on the superpowers. Yes he does, but he was kicking your asses before then!"

"We could have beaten someone else though!" Alien responded. Trinity rolled her eyes. There was one in every class. Her eyes stopped mid-roll when the kid continued. "We could have beaten Trinity!"

Neo and Chiron snorted, that was unlikely.

"First it's _Captain_ Trinity. And second, I doubt you could have. The captain here has the best record in the entire resistance when it comes to escaping Agents. Better than me, better than Commander Morpheus, better than Captain Roland, Captain Niobe or any of us. Remember that and speak to your superiors with respect." Chiron rumbled. The kid backed off, chastised. Chiron turned to the couple. "Thank you for showing them up so spectacularly."

"Anytime," Neo replied.

"Zeb!" Chiron called out. Neo turned and took the vision of Trinity into his real world body.

~*~*~

  
Deep in the bowels of 01 a command reached the lowest ranked machines, the last true robots on the planet. The hulking humanoid forms were 20 feet tall and performed menial tasks befitting their insignificance. Many thousands had been made for the purpose of fighting, but only a fraction of the original number remained, the rest lost to the ravages of war or time. Still, there were a surprising number left. By all rights they should have been recycled into more useful, less human machines, but somehow these had survived. The robots turned as one towards the west, then simultaneously began their long march.

~*~*~

  
"How'd the interviews go?" Morpheus asked with a small knowing smile. Trinity and Neo stepped into his office, Neo closing the door behind him part way before leaning against the wall. Trinity sank into the seat across from Morpheus and tossed three data-pads onto his desk.

"They went well. I think I've decided but I would like to sleep on it one more day." Trinity said. Morpheus nodded and slid another pad from a neat stack on his desk.

"Good. There is something I would like you to consider." Trinity arched an eyebrow as she took the pad from his outstretched hand. "This is the list of hopeful operators. I've been going over the numbers with Chiron and Locke and we're going to need more operators as the fleet grows. Now Link would be the one primarily responsible for training a new operator and I know you said you'd think about taking on a third new crewmember so..." Morpheus trailed off. Trinity thought for a moment, tapping the pad against the palm of her other hand as she did so. She turned it on and too a quick glance at the names listed there then switched it off again.

"I'll have to talk to Link about it," Trinity said. Morpheus nodded; he'd expected she would want to talk with Link first. "I decided to take Spike and Syzygy on since they're familiar and they wouldn't take as long to train. I think if Link if up to it, we can take an operator too."

"Good! Good."

"Can you run this back to the ship?" Trinity turned in her seat and held the pad towards Neo. Her first officer pushed himself away from the wall and took the pad. "Tell Link the situation and ask him to look over the list. I'll be up in a bit."

"Sure." Neo nodded and slipped from the room. After a moment Trinity got up and shut the door. Morpheus leaned forward on his desk attentively as Trinity took he seat again.

"I'm concerned about Neo," Trinity told him, "Recently he's been having these... bizarre nightmares."

"Lots of people have nightmares about being unplugged, or the machine world and he's been through a lot," Morpheus tried to reason, but she was already shaking her head.

"No, they aren't about that. Morpheus, right before the end of the war, Neo started having dreams." Trinity admitted. She looked off into space, either collecting her thoughts or remembering. "He never said anything, but they bothered him. That day, he asked me to stay out of the Matrix." Morpheus nodded. He hadn't understood then and he wasn't sure he understood now, why Neo had asked her not to go in. His jaw clenched just a little as he remembered the chaos of that day and the days that followed.   
"I think he was having visions of something happening to me in the Matrix. And, " Trinity paused to regain complete control of her emotions, "and something did happen to me." She swallowed back rising bile. "Later he told me he was having visions of the machine city," Trinity added. I- I can't help but wonder if this is the same thing, if he's seeing things which will happen."

Silence lingered in the room for a long moment. Trinity wondered if she was being silly. If, perhaps, she was letting her feelings for Neo somehow cloud her judgment in some way. She hadn't planned on telling Morpheus when she'd walked into the officer, but a feeling of unease had been flitting about at the back of her mind all day. She looked up and met Morpheus' eyes when he finally spoke.

"He is the One." Trinity nodded, she damn well _knew_ that, possibly better than other people. "No one has any idea how he can see, it's a miracle. If he was having visions of the machine city I believe it. And if he was having visions in dreams before, then you are right in being concerned." Morpheus said gravely. Trinity felt a little relieved, but at the same time she felt slightly guilty for telling Morpheus. "Niobe told me he knew your names from before." Trinity nodded slowly. "I thought that perhaps that was an isolated incident, or was somehow related to his ability to read the code of the Matrix directly, or... Trinity I don't know. Neo doesn't even know how he can do half the things he can do. He just does them," Morpheus sighed. "But maybe-"

"The dreams are more visions." Trinity said. Morpheus nodded.

"May I ask," Morpheus began tentatively, "what his last dream was about?"

Trinity paused for a moment considering. Niobe had been told the first one and Morpheus was much closer to the both of them than Niobe was. Trinity took a breath and quickly told Morpheus everything she had been told. Morpheus sat back and listened, eyebrow racing straight up when Trinity began to tell him about Smith reciting the pill speech he had given Neo.

"That is strange." Trinity nodded agreement. "I guess time will tell if these are visions or nightmares. Thank you for telling me Trinity. Neo isn't just the One, he's my friend too." Trinity nodded again and rose.

"I should get to the ship or Neo will wonder what is keeping me."

"Ok." Morpheus rose and saw her out the door then returned to his desk and surveyed the work he had left with a heavy sigh. He picked up the first data pad on the pile and began reading. Two hours later there was a soft knock at his door.

"Sir?" Morpheus looked up. His aid was standing in his office doorway carrying a data-chip.

"Yes Qwerty?" Morpheus asked. The young man approached the desk, holding out the data chip.

"This just came in from the docks, sir. It's a communication from the Logos." Morpheus took the chip and nodded thanks to his aide who retreated back to the outer office. Morpheus set the chip into the reader and played the message back.

"This is captain Niobe of the Logos to Zion command. We have just returned from the Matrix with important news. Included with this message is a data file containing the details and terms of how the peace will work in the Matrix." Niobe paused for a moment then the recording continued.  
"The System has decided it will no longer stop us from unplugging people who reject the Matrix. They've made a few stipulations and have outlined what is acceptable and what is not. They said they already calculated how actual negotiations would have gone and came up with these terms. It's apparently been approved by the Oracle and Seraph was the one who told us." Niobe paused again. "An Agent was actually the one to tell us the terms, but it's apparently all true. We are continuing to monitor our potential target. I guess we'll se how well this agreement works out, first hand. Logos Out."

Morpheus sank back in his chair, lost in a thousand swirling thoughts, each vying for his full attention. His mind had been completely blank as he listened to her message and the enormity of what it meant sank in. Now thoughts and ideas seemed to crash back into his mind as if a dam had broken.

"Sir?" Qwerty prompted, "This is good news isn't it?" Morpheus shook himself free of the thoughts concerning Neo and his prophetic dreams for the moment. This was news that council should be made aware of, immediately. Once that was done, he could address other issues; namely sending the Neb back to broadcast level to seek out the Oracle as soon as humanly possible.

"Yes, yes it is. Very good news. I want you to make a copy of this. I am going to take this to Dillard's office personally."

"Yes, sir," The young man said and quickly ran off with the chip back to his desk to make a copy. Morpheus allowed himself to think on Neo for a moment while his aide copied the data.

_Did he know? How did he know? Was it the dream? Was in coincidence?_ Morpheus shook himself free of the thoughts and strode into the outer office. His aid removed the ship from the reader/writer and handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said, accepting the chip. "I'm off to go bring some good news to Councilor Dillard. Then I will probably be heading back Dock side to speak with the captains there." The young man nodded. Morpheus turned and left, thoughts of Neo temporarily shelved.

~*~*~  
Trinity quickly climbed up the ladder to the core of her ship. Neo and Link were holding a large panel in place while one of the dockhands tack-welded it into place.

"Ok, that should do it," the workman said, voice muffled by the mask. Neo and Link nodded and stepped out of the way as the worker began making more permanent welds.

"How is it going?" Trinity asked.

"So far so good," Link shrugged. He went back over to his half assembled station and picked up the pad Neo dropped off. "I haven't had a chance to look at this yet," he told her. "But I think I could handle teaching someone if you want me to." Trinity nodded.

"Neo and I can deal with Spike and Syz. A new operator will mostly be your responsibility."

"We're taking those two?" Link asked. Trinity nodded.

"Since we unplugged them, I didn't have a problem with Morpheus asking me to take on an operator as well. Look over the list and tell me what you've decided. I think any of them would work well just based on their performance, but you're the one who will be doing most of the training."

"Right, I'll do that right now."

"Thank you," Trinity said, "Neo? Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," Neo followed her back down the ladder and through the ship, wondering what she wanted to talk about. She stopped in front of their new cabin and opened the hatch, closing it behind him. "Is something wrong?" Neo asked, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"I told Morpheus about your dream," she admitted. "He already knows about the first one." Neo took his hand off her shoulder and ran it through his hair, turning from her slightly. Trinity felt awful, like she'd betrayed his trust. "Neo." Now it was her turn to place a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Neo I told him because I care and because I'm worried about you. These aren't the first nightmares you've had, are they?" she asked him. He froze under her hand and she knew she had guessed correctly. He turned to face her slowly but said nothing. "Are they?"

"No," he shook his head. Trinity took his hands and rubbed her thumbs over the back of them.

"It was only after you asked me to stay out of the Matrix that I thought your dreams might be about me. Were they?" she asked. He nodded silently, hands turning in her grasp so they could hold her tightly. It almost hurt. "Neo, I knew you had problems sleeping. I know you left a number of times and I know you stayed in bed awake even more than that. It hurt a little that you didn't tell me what was wrong, but I trusted you. You told me this time though, which is why I feel so awful for telling Morpheus. But it seemed important somehow, and I love you."

"In the ones before...I saw you fall," he said so softly she though she'd heard wrong. He'd seen her falling from that building? "A couple times a week. At night. I'd see the agent shoot you. And then when it happened, I- I tried to get there, but I couldn't stop him. I wasn't fast enough."

"You caught me," Trinity insisted, calm voice belying her inner turmoil. He'd seen her fall. Had known to come and catch her. Had known she'd been shot. She'd always assumed that Link had filled him in. But he'd known it was going to happen. It was chilling.

"I can't lose you," he said, "and don't say I won't. I've lost you twice." She reached out and hugged him tightly and he returned the embrace, shaking slightly.

"But you saved me," she brushed her fingers through his hair and waited for him to calm a little. "Neo, what else are you seeing now? Are they visions like before?"

"No. Those dreams were so clear. These... These are confusing. They're not like normal nightmares, but they're not like when I saw you falling, thank god. I still can't help but wonder if they do mean something? And then if they do, what do they mean?" He paused a moment and held her while he tried to decide how much else to tell her. He felt awful for not telling her before, but he'd been terrified that if he said anything that might be the catalyst for her fall; a self fulfilling prophecy. Which, he noted ruefully, it almost was. He finally decided to tell her a little more.

"I was back in that perfect house from the first dream."

"Yeah?"

"It felt real. I was convinced I was somehow back in the Matrix."

"I had that nightmare a few times," Trinity admitted, hoping he'd feel better knowing he wasn't alone in that fear.

"I- walked out of the bedroom into the hall. I didn't know what to do. And then the mirror started talking to me."

"The mirror?"

"He said I was in a dream. He started saying some things, which...I guess may be true on some level. I don't know if I want them to be or not."

"What did he say?" Trinity asked. Neo squeezed her tightly, hugging her closer.

"Can I just...not tell you right now? I- Its confusing and I just don't know. It sort of frightened me."

"Telling me won't help?"

"No. It might make it worse. I promise I'll tell you. I will."

"I believe you. So you saw this mirror of yourself and he said some unnerving things?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask what they were about generally?" she asked. Neo sighed.

"I don't want you to wonder."

"I already am," Trinity pointed out.

"He said lots of things, but some of those things were about us."

"I love you," Trinity said with fervor. "That will never change." He kissed her in reply.

"I know. You know I love you like that too, right? I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know. God, Neo..."Trinity wondered what the hell had him so cagey. She wanted to take the hurt away, slay his monsters, send them back to hell where they could burn with Smith.

"Can we talk about something else for a little while?" Neo asked. Trinity thought about pursuing his dream further, but knew she shouldn't. He promised to tell her, and she believed him.

"You seemed a little spooked when that kid was mouthing off. You ok?" Trinity felt sorry she'd asked when she felt Neo's physical response. His jaw clenched and relaxed a few times. She placed a gentle hand against his cheek.

"Should we leave that for another conversation as well?" she questioned. Neo nodded.

"Please?" he pleaded. She nodded and let her hand trail down his face and neck to his chest. Neo tightened his grip on her and buried his face in her neck. She held him for a long moment, feeling him calm.

"We should get back and see if Link has chosen our new apprentice operator."

"Did you tell Spike and Syzygy yet?" Neo asked as their embrace finally loosened.

"No. After Morpheus asked us to take on a third, I decided to send them out-"

"Trinity!" Both Neo and Trinity looked towards the cabin hatch and then at one another. What was Morpheus doing on the Neb? They quickly left their cabin to see what was going on.

"Morpheus what is it?" Trinity asked as she gave him a hand up onto the deck from the ladder.

"This." He held up a data chip in his hands. "It's a message from the Logos. You need to hear this. Both of you."

"Did something happen?" Trinity asked as they made their way to the core and the closest chip reader currently working on the ship.

"Nothing happened to the Logos. In short, they were contacted and told how the peace agreement would work out in the Matrix." Morpheus said as they climbed the ladder into the Core. Link looked up from the data-pad of candidates when he heard Morpheus and Trinity in the ladder well. Morpheus climbed onto the deck first, quickly followed by Trinity and Neo. "Read this," he said, hading the chip to Link. The operator slid it into the drive and booted up the contents. An audio file from the Logos?

_"This is captain Niobe of the Logos to Zion command. We have just returned from the Matrix with important news..."_

Neo felt queasy as the message began playing: had something he'd done hurt their chances of unplugging anyone ever again? The feeling quickly stopped and was replaced with a leaden feeling.

_"What about the others?"  
"What others?"   
"The ones that want out,"   
"Obviously, they will be freed..."_

Niobe's report sounded eerily like the dream Neo has most recently had

"The council is discussing this now," Morpheus said. "Their first reading of the terms and conditions seem reasonable, but we really aren't in a position to re-negotiate. At least not now." Morpheus gestured towards the reader and Link popped the disk out and handed it back. "Trinity, as soon as your ship is able to go, your first task once you get back to broadcast level is to contact the Oracle." Trinity nodded silently, understanding. "Now I," Morpheus shook the disk in his hand, "am going to tell the other captains personally." He started to leave then stopped and turned. "Have you come to a decision about another operator?"

"Link is looking over the list," Trinity said, then looked over in her operator's direction, "Unless you finished looking them over?"

"Oh, uh," Link grabbed the data-pad and held it out. Trinity took it and looked at the application active on the screen. "I was thinking we could take Munin. She's a little bit older than the other kids, she's had some shipboard experience and she's also doing her medic training." Trinity quickly read the application then looked up.

"Ok. We'll take Munin." She handed the data-pad back to Morpheus.

"I think you have some visits to make then." Trinity replied only with a ghost of a smile. Morpheus left and Trinity followed him out. Neo stayed behind in the Core with Link, helping the operator weld the new server brackets to the internal support struts. After a few minutes Link stood back and took off the welder's mask.

"Man, can you believe it?"

"What?" Neo asked.

"Niobe's message!" Link exclaimed.

"Oh. Yeah," Neo replied. He still felt weird about the whole thing.

"That's all you can say? Neo, you did that man." The operator gently prodded Neo's shoulder. "You can be too humble sometimes. Anyway, I'm not sure I trust the machines entirely, but they could have killed us all ten times, heck, a hundred times over since you came back from their city." Link's tone turned serious. "Do you think they're legit?" Neo thought about that.

"Yeah. I think they'll hold up their end if we hold up ours." Neo said. He'd gotten that impression from the Oracle when he had woken in the Matrix. And then that dream... Trinity appeared at the ladder then.

"I need to go tell our new crewmembers. Do you want to come along?" She asked them both. Link grinned.

"Sure! The sooner we get them over here, the sooner they can start helping."

"Neo?" she asked. He nodded, smiling just a little.

"Yeah."

"Lets go."

******

  
The crew of the Neb made their way down into the dorms near the academy. Neo followed along behind Trinity, using her and the glowing power-lines attached to the rock walls as guides. Link strolled beside him, enjoying himself and looking forward to not only having more hands working on the Neb, but to telling the new crew. He remembered how damn excited he'd been when Chiron had been captain of the Manticore and had come down to knock on his door. They turned a corner and walked away from the vast Well, and into the honeycombed dorm area carved deeper into the rock. Groups of students looked up and fell silent or scurried out of the way as they passed, the names of the officers said in awed whispers. A bold girl reached out to touch Neo's sleeve. Neo noticed the movement and turned to see what it was. The girl 'eep'ed and backed away, nearly falling over her own feet.

"You ok?" Neo asked as the small group paused. She nodded silently, eyes huge. Link bit his tongue trying to keep from laughing out loud and embarrassing the girl further. "Ok, then." Neo looked at Trinity, shrugged and they continued on. They turned another corner and the room behind them erupted into excited chatter and a few girly squeals. Link did laugh then, and continued to until they finally approached their destination. 

The loud sound of music and cheering teenagers spilled out of the common area into the main hallway a little down the way. Trinity paused by an open door and peered inside. Seeing no one, she looked at the door itself. A list of names and, presumably where those people currently were, was scribbled in a message area. Most of the guys, including Spike were "Lounge Gaming!" Trinity jerked her thumb towards the yelling students and then headed in that direction.

The music grew louder as they approached. A small crowd was gathered in the common area between three of the hallways. A digital projector was focused on a large, smooth section of rock which had been painted white. A smaller monitor on a low table mirrored the images. Little arrows floated up the screen in time to the music, in incredible combinations. One of the guys missed a step and the crowd groaned in sympathy.

Neo smiled a little bit. He couldn't see the projected screen, but he could see the monitor and the dancing students. He looked down and sure enough, they had cobbled together hard, arcade style pads. Someone had 'ported Dance Dance Revolution into the real world. Trinity smirked for a second then tapped the nearest student on the shoulder. The kid did a double take, eyes growing very wide.

"Is Spike here?" Trinity asked. The kid nodded slowly then turned to perform a frenzied visual search of the crowd before pointing to the couch. "Thank you." Trinity said. By now the students immediately around them had stopped cheering and others were peering over to see who had arrived. The silence spread through the room and finally someone shut off the volume on the game, making the rest of the group, including the dancers, turn around. Trinity picked her way through the crowd, but they parted before her, eyes wide. Spike stood up from the couch as Trinity approached.

"Hello Spike," she greeted.

"Uhm. Hi Trinity. Er, ma'am, er Captain. Hi." His eyes darted back to Neo and Link and then to Trinity. "Can I do something for you?" he asked, feeling lame.

"Would you like to join my crew?" Trinity asked. Spike's heart froze for one tenth of a second before it restarted. He grinned.

"Hell yeah! Er I mean," he tried to look more serious, older, mature. "It would be an honor, captain." The corner of Trinity's mouth twitched into a small smile and she held out her hand. Spike looked at it for an eternal second before grasping and shaking it.

"Good," she said. "Welcome aboard. Find us at the docks at ten tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Trinity turned and made her way towards Neo and Link in the silence of the room. At the edge of the crow she turned and called back.

"Ten am comes a lot sooner than you think, so don't party too hard." Then she left, Neo and Link following behind. They got to the next junction in the halls before the roar of congratulations began behind them. Trinity fell back into step between Neo and Link and grabbed Neo's hand for a second, squeezing it. He returned the gesture and they separated.

"Syzygy should be around her room as well," Trinity said. They made their way back through the large common area by the entrance to the dorm caves. "She's on the second level, so we'll take the stairs," she informed the others. Link and Neo nodded. They made their away across the room and Trinity felt Neo slow his stride as they approached the stairs. She immediately saw the staircase was only rock and some concrete repair work and surmised that he couldn't see much of anything except the people walking on it. She silently took his elbow and walked a little ahead of him. Link continued on ahead of both of them, either unaware of Neo's hesitancy, or not wanting to call attention to it. He'd been the one to help Neo around when they had first returned from 01 and Trinity was still in the hospital ward. Link was actually the one to give Trinity a few pointers on how to assist Neo with areas of Zion he couldn't 'see', noting that his father had gone blind in a squid attack when Link was himself learning to be an operator.

"Step here," she said with a squeeze as they reached the first one. He put his hand over hers and let her subtly guide him up, using Link as a reference as well. They reached the top and then Trinity took the lead again, somehow knowing which hall was which in the twisting warren of rooms. Neo hadn't seen a difference even when he'd been able to see.   
She stopped at a door and rapped on the worn metal. A girl with frizzy blonde fuzz answered.

"Oh, Holy Fuck!" she exclaimed, gawking for a second. 

"What?" A semi annoyed voice asked. "Who is it, Lotus?" an older, Asian girl asked. Her hair was much longer that her roommate's, indicating she'd been in the real world for some time. The girl nearly dropped the data-pad she'd been reading when she saw Trinity standing there with Neo and Link. She ran over to prod the lumpy form sprawled on the bed in the corner. "Wake up!"

"No. I set my alarm. Go away Nova." Syzygy muttered back.

"Get up!" the girl hit Syzygy with her data-pad, eliciting a sharp cry from under the blankets. "There are important people here to see you!"

"Like who," the blankets muttered back.

"Like _The One_! Like _**Captain** Trinity_!"

"Oh shit!" Syzygy sprang from her bed, falling on her face as she got tangled in the blankets. She scrambled to her feet and ran to the door, brushing aside the still silently gawking girl. "Hi," Syzygy said nervously.

"Hi," Trinity greeted. "Did we disturb you?" she asked. "I can come back later I guess," Trinity turned to leave. The younger girl reached forward and grabbed her arm, eyes bulging a little.

"No! No! No, I was going to get up soon." Trinity turned back to Syzygy. Link was once again trying desperately to keep a straight face. Neo was having a hard time as well. "Uhm, can I do something for you?" Syzygy asked. Link sputtered and covered it with a cough. Neo patted him on the back, maybe a little harder than needed. But it was funny that Spike and Syz had nearly said the same thing.

"I've come to invite you to join my crew." Sharp gasps from both Syzygy's roommates were followed by a giggling squeal from the pod-fuzzy one.

"Yes! Thank you! Uhm, now?" Syzygy asked, unsure what happened once someone was actually accepted to work on one of the fleet ships. Trinity shook her head.

"No. Show up at ten am tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do on the Neb before she's ready to head out and we're on an accelerated schedule as of tomorrow."

"Ok. Anything else?"

"Just don't stay up too late," Trinity told her. She shook the girl's hand.

"Right. Thank you."

The three adults weren't even ten feet away before Syzygy's roommates started yelling. The younger one dashed out of their room and began knocking on the doors of their neighbors.

"And so it starts," Link chuckled, "By tomorrow every kid in Zion will know who the newbies on the Neb's crew are."

"And they're just the first," Trinity added. "Morpheus said the Council wants the captains to start taking their new crews as soon as possible given what's happened in the Matrix."

"I bet that news will be all over Zion by tomorrow night," Link predicted. Trinity nodded agreement. They made their way out towards the Well, heading for the elevator.

"To the last kid next?" Link asked. Trinity nodded.

"She's not in the dorms?" Neo asked, noting they were leaving that area of Zion.

"Nope." Link punched the elevator call button.

"Where then?"

"Zionist quarter." Trinity replied. Neo felt like groaning.

"It won't be so bad," she reassured, the unspoken 'I hope,' lingering between them. The elevator arrived and the group stepped inside.  



	7. Chapter 7

A/N) Longest. Chapter. Evar. :D Almost double sized! At 32 pages in word, its even longer than chapter 5.

**Edit**: 7-13-04 Took out the smutty bit in this chapter because I really don't like it  
Spike and Syzygy appear in my other WiP, Unplugged. So if you're wondering who they are, they're from that. All you need to know is that they are kids the Neb unplugged Pre-Kid and Post-Neo, during the 6mo or so between M1 and M2   
ok HUGE MASSIVE ETERNAL thanks to: Beat, DanaScully, Electric Kitsune and Juliet. lavishes with praise and thanks  
Seventh Verse! Same as the first! A little bit louder and a little bit worse!  
and additional thanks go to Tamsin for additional Brit-picking ;

Chapter the 7th

The group of officers got off the elevator and headed towards the quarter. From here, the music could barely be made out, but it quickly grew louder. They made their way to the broad, open area at the entrance to the quarter's honeycomb of caverns and the music his Neo with its full impact. Even if he was very uncomfortable with their more-worshipful-than-average deference to him, the music was catchy.

Most residential areas had some form of market at their entrance where people could barter and trade, and the quarter was no exception. Trinity scanned the area quickly and decided on a path which followed the perimeter of the boisterous open market. Neo Immediately sought Trinity's hand. His world was a mix of green and blue sparks and vast black spaces. He could judge where he could and couldn't go based on how the people around him walked, but he really didn't want to step anywhere he shouldn't and rarely ventured into these areas of Zion; not that he'd gone to the markets much before. Trinity accepted his hand without comment and looked at him for a moment with a small smile. It really was like looking at everything in code, Neo reflected.

Bane had been made of orange light that left a flame-like afterimage behind him when he moved; something neo had never seen in the Matrix when he viewed it in code. Trinity left the same sort of flaming afterimage, but she was mostly made of little clusters of blue points of light. Except around her plugs. Those areas were bits of orange; telltale marks the Matrix and the machines had left on every pod-born.

His ability to 'see' around him had become clearer in the weeks just after they had returned to Zion, but to his frustration had hadn't seen much improvement in the recent months. He could make out expressions and facial features. Naturally those people he knew well he could make out more easily as his mind filled in missing details. Electricity in Zion was green almost the same color as the Matrix, another sometimes disturbing similarity.

Trinity's hand squeezed his again and he slowed his pace to match hers. He looked up and abruptly realized how many people were surrounding them.

"Excuse me," Trinity apologized as she tried to make her way through the crowd. People were calling for them, hailing them as king and queen. Neo ducked his head and hurried along with Trinity, eyes focused on the bright orange spot denoting her head-plug. Neo wondered if Matrix rock stars had felt this way. He could feel her agitation increase as she politely asked people to let her through. Trinity hated crowds even more than he did. This sort of thing didn't happen to them as much anymore, but it still happened more than before the war had ended. Neo began to hear her discomfort reflected in her voice and ran his thumb across the back of her hand. The people seemed to take their appearance as a fantastic excuse to party and the band started up again with an even more upbeat tune. The crowd's attention drew away from Neo and Trinity as they began a spontaneous celebration

They finally escaped the now extremely large crowd and hurried into the smaller residential tunnels. Trinity exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Crowds were fine, just not when she was the focus. She looked over her shoulder at Link. The operator rolled his eyes; he knew neither liked this sort of public display, and as impressive as they were in the Matrix, they were still just people. They were good people, good friends, but they were people. The other day Link had passed by a group of women who sounded as if they were actually worshipping Trinity as a Goddess; he hadn't told Trinity about it since he couldn't quite believe it himself.

"You want to take the lead?" Trinity asked him as they approached their destination. Link nodded and stepped ahead of them.

"Why?" Neo quietly asked. She'd taken the lead for both Spike and Syzygy

"It's traditional and very formal. Operators ask people to be their apprentices; it's very different from the training you and I got in a lot of ways. Then they go and ask the captain of the ship to accept the apprentice on the crew. Link will be doing most of her training while she's on board so I didn't mind accepting another newbie. I could train her, but he's the operator on the ship." she shrugged, "We'll have some hand in it, but responsibility will mostly be on Link."

"I get it," Neo said. Only now he noticed he was still holding Trinity's hand. She hadn't let go, and Neo didn't feel inclined to either. Link knocked on the door and Neo was surprised when Onyx opened the door.

"Captain," Link greeted.

"Link,"

"I'd like to talk to Muninn if she's home?" Onyx opened the door further with a smile.

"Come in, please. You as well," She looked over Link's shoulder and gestured for Neo and Trinity to enter in as well. She turned and called over her shoulder, "Huginn, call your sister." A boy who had been quietly reading on the couch sprang up and ran further into the apartment. He returned a moment later with a tall girl.

"Muninn," Link extended a hand. The girl accepted it and inclined her head. "I extend the offer of apprenticeship to you." The offer sounded very formal to Neo and he thought it was sort of strange that the Operators would be so formal while Trinity had been much more relaxed.

"I accept," Muninn answered.

"Great," Link beamed, somber formality gone. "Captain, permission to take her on as an Operator Apprentice," he jerked his thumb in Muninn's direction.

"Granted," Trinity responded wryly. She let go of Neo to shake hands with the girl. Neo shook her hand as well.

"Thank you ma'am. It is a great honor to be on th' crew of the Nebuchadnezzar."

"We're glad to have you. We're starting work tomorrow at 10 am."

"Yes ma'am."

Trinity, Link and Neo made their good byes and left, hands absently finding one another again. "So is she related to the captain?" Neo asked. Trinity nodded.

"Huginn and Muninn are twins. They're her youngest kids, but they're twenty or something. I don't know. I think their eldest died with the fleet when the EMP blew." They continued on in silence, their pace only slowing as they came to the main entrance once more.

"Ready to run the gauntlet?" Link said lightly. Trinity rolled her eyes but said nothing. "You know," Link mused, "You could probably take the stairs on the far side over there to the next level." Trinity looked across the two story entrance area and saw the steps carved into the rock. There were fewer people on the level above and they could easily catch the elevator from that level. Trinity nodded.

"I think we'll do that."

"Well I'm a level down and across the Well, so I'll take my chances this way."

"Goodnight Link," Trinity said, echoed closely by Neo. They watched him disappear into the still dancing crowd then made their way to the stairs.

Proteus left the Twins by the car and made his way towards the playground. He recognized Sati as the only program present. She was sitting with a group of humans in a circle under a tree, brushing the hair of an extravagantly dressed doll. He walked forward and stopped just outside the group. They fell silent as they realized he was there and stared owlishly at him. What was a boy doing here? He was one none of them recognized. Sati immediately saw he was another program but she couldn't immediately decide what kind he was. She knew she probably should call Seraph, but she was curious to find out herself.

"Who are you?" the human with curly red hair asked.

"Proteus de Merovingian," Proteus answered back, inclining his head.

"Oh!" one of the girls squealed, "he's French," she said authoritatively, "My sister is taking French and she says stuff like that too." Proteus ignored the human's inane chatter. Sati stood up and brushed some wood chips off her jumper.

"You belong to the Frenchman," Sati said.

"Oui."

"I didn't know he had kids."

"He did not when you met him."

"Come on Sati, we're going to play over here," Molly grabbed her hands and tried to pull her towards the other girls already heading for the jungle gym. The boy made them nervous.

"I'm going to talk with him a bit. I know his Mama and Papa."

"Ok, just be careful. Boys have cooties!"

"Ewwww!" the other girls chorused. Proteus rolled his eyes and waited for the humans to run off. Sati waited until her friends were out of hearing range before talking with the other program. The Oracle had explained to her that telling her friends that they were dreaming or that she was actually a program would be a very bad idea. Telling them Proteus was a program too probably wasn't a good idea either.

"You're like me, but not exactly,"

"This is true." The two child-programs stared at one another for a long moment.

"Why did you come here?" Sati finally asked. Proteus shrugged. His reasons were his own and who knew what the fortune teller might do with that information. He didn't know if she knew he even existed, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Sati crossed her arms and looked the other program up and down.

"So do you want to play?" she asked.

"Play?"

"Yeah!" She smiled. "Play!" Proteus stared at her blankly. "You do know what play is, right?" she asked.

"Oui. To play is to occupy oneself in amusement, sport, or other recreation" Sati rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically.

"Well that's the boring explanation. Play is for fun. Don't you play with your parents?"

"Non." He shook his head "We don't play," he said, not sure why this seemed so important to her. He would have to ask when he returned home.

"Come on," She grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the playground. "Are you familiar with four-square, freeze tag and dodge-ball?"

"Get up," One prodded his semi-somnolent brother. "He's back. Two sat up and the back of the seat snapped upright. Their boss' kid stalked to the car, yanked open the door and pulled it shut with surprising force.

"Drive." One gave Two a look, but he turned the key in the ignition anyway.

"Learn something?" Two asked drolly.

_"Chienne incompréhensible foutue!"_ Proteus spat back before resuming muttering under his breath. Two turned around and had to bite back a laugh. _Le Petit Prince_ had daddy's foul mouth it seemed. The journey back to the Chateau was uneventful, but the kid seemed to be irritated for some reason the twins didn't know. Proteus stalked away after throwing the doors open with enough force they hit the walls and bounced back. The twins looked at one another then phased, sinking into a lower level of the mansion and well away from their boss and his irate offspring.

"Why?" Proteus exclaimed. "WHY?! I do not get it!" He stalked into his parent's bedroom and began pacing. Persephone paused in taking the pins out of her hair and watched Proteus' reflection in the mirror walk back and forth cursing under his breath. She removed the last pin and turned in her seat, shaking her hair loose as she did so.

"I take it the meeting did not go well?" she asked. Proteus stopped in his tracks and threw his arms wide in a gesture of exasperation.

"I have no idea!" he resumed pacing, "I don't get it!"

"What happened?"

"She asked me to play!" he stopped pacing again and frowned, "it was terribly simple and yet it was almost enjoyable but I still don't know why she is content to play with humans and the way she acts isn't anything like me at all!" he sat on the end of the bed and crossed his arms.

"You aren't going to go back then?"

_"Non!"_ he hopped off the bed, seemingly with a second wind. "I will figure her out! I will figure the humans out!" he declared. "I will understand why and the conniving sibyl will not have her as an advantage over me! _Bonne nuit, Maman,_" he kissed her on the cheek then ran from the room.

"What was that?" the Merovingian asked as he walked into the room, drawn by the commotion. Persephone shrugged.

"He apparently doesn't understand Sati any more than we do, but he's determined to find out." she explained. Her husband arched an eyebrow and smiled dangerously.

"Perhaps we can use that as an advantage."

"Well, well," Link laughed as he spied the newest crewmembers staggering their way up the Neb's docking ramp. Trinity turned around and arched an eyebrow at the obviously hung over newly commissioned officers. Spike's head lolled to one side and he was an interesting shade of green. Syzygy's baggy eyes were bloodshot, and her short, dirty blonde hair was mussed. Even Munin looked worse for the wear.

"I said 10 am comes quickly," Trinity chided. Spike rolled bleary eyes to face her and tried to straighten up.

"Roommates ma'am. They-" he paused, "they brought me home two hours ago. Hog tied me ma'am-" He paused when she waved him to silence.

"I thought they might. And I'd prefer it is you called me 'Trinty'. Syzygy?" The girl was listing dangerously to the one side, eyes at half mast. The girl jerked upright and looked around wildly before focusing on Trinity. "Are you ok?" Trinity tossed the wrench she'd been holding back into its tool box and stepped down to put a stabilizing hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

"Uh, yeah. I think. I haven't been home," she admitted putting a hand to her forehead. "I hate my roommates," she muttered then looked over at Munin. "I hate your roommates too."

"Dey were pissed. My mother.She started me off dat evening with some powerful shit, mon. Was too drunk when dey got t' me,"

"Ugh," Syzygy moaned, swaying into Munin. Trinity caught her arm and half dragged her to the steps in the hold. Link was laughing quietly by this point and directed Spike to sit down as well. Munin half collapsed into her seat. The three looked absolutely miserable.

"They ok?" Neo asked, eying the body language of the Neb's newest crewmembers.

"Well, They have me beat, but they're nowhere near as completely trashed Mouse got when Morpheus picked him up. They might be at about the level Switch got, but they haven't started puking yet."

"Hmm," Link crossed his arms and looked at the kids critically for a moment. "I give them a 7," he decided. Spike fell forward and landed face first on the deck, ass in the air for a moment before he fell to his side. "7.5," Link amended.

"Oh, you're tough, that's at least an 8," Trinity decided crossing her own arms. "So, do I let them sober up here, or send them home."

"Home," Neo suggested. "I'd rather not clean up after anyone who gets sick," he explained. Trinity chuckled and nodded.

"Ok. We expected this, so go home. Be here tomorrow at 8 am. Sober and not hung over either. That clear?" The kids looked dumbly at her for a moment before nodding slowly. Munin carefully stood up and helped Syzygy to her feet. Then the two dragged Spike up and hobbled out together.

"Aww, they're bonding already," Link snickered as he returned to his task.

"Tradition?" Neo asked Trinity wryly. Trinity smiled brightly back.

"Yep."

The robots reached the plane now and began to pick up speed, covering ground with massive, loping strides. Their ability to quickly assault a fortified structure and rip it apart had been the bane of military commanders for a few years. Then there hadn't been any truly fortified structures left. There hadn't been many military commanders by that point either.

Despite their advanced age, the soldier robots were in good repair. New parts had replaced old and in a curious twist of fate, they had been sheltered from the raging sky by the very city they slaved under. The plain had not yet been scavenged entirely by the salvage drones and was littered with the twisted metal of fallen Sentinels and the shrapnel of spent bombs. The robots were agile despite their size and easily dodged the wreckage. They came to the edge of the destruction and continued on west towards the power plant and beyond.

Niobe felt eyes on her back and looked away from the busy cyber café Grond was operating out of today. Seeing only the patrons of the coffee shop, she returned her gaze back across the small side street. Her target logged out, collected his belongings and left the building. Merlin casually tossed away his sandwich wrapper and left the bench he'd been sitting on, walking ahead of their target. Niobe nodded approval to herself: the kid was turning out to be very good. She knew he'd mirrored part of the back of his sunglasses so he could trail Grond by actually walking in front of him. He'd definitely seen way too many Matrix spy movies, but it worked.

The annoying feeling of eyes on her back returned and she casually looked around as she gathered her empty coffee mug and deposited it in the bin to be washed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a well dressed child: dark hair and eyes which followed her movements. The same program kid who had been at the Binary club the first time they'd staked it out and both times since; and frequently at other places as well. Niobe, Ghost or Merlin would arrive someplace and suddenly realize they were being watched. Then he would disappear, into the air it seemed.

Niobe wasn't sure if he was being careless or if he wanted her to see him, but she was getting annoyed. Her cell phone rang as it always did: Sparks had only just detected the interloper.

"I see," she said before the operator could get a word in. Sparks huffed down the line and muttered something she couldn't make out (which was probably good for Spark's sake).

"You know, we're the ones supposed to be stalking people," Sparks grumbled. Niobe closed the connection and stepped out into the bright mid-spring, Matrix morning. Ghost had been contacting Grond in the Café, leading him where she wanted him to go. With any luck they could unplug him by the end of the week.

"I think he's waking." Niobe looked up from the plug she's been securing an IV to and saw that Grond's eyes were fluttering. She finished and placed the boy's hand down on the table. Ghost stepped back from the boot he'd been tying and stood next to Sparks. Merlin's eyes nervously flicked from her to Ghost to Sparks and back down to the waking newbie. This was his first unplugging and he was nervous. He'd heard horror stories from other kids in Zion about people who had gone insane when they woke up. Niobe had heard those same stories when she was younger, but in actuality there had only been one documented case of Post-Matrix Psychosis, and that had happened to the unfortunate crew of the Manticore eight years after she'd joined the fleet.

"Fuck," Grond swore and rubbed his eyes. Ghost reached over and manipulated the light controls. The lights faded out as they smoothly rose back towards the ceiling. "The hell happened?" Niobe met his eyes and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You wanted the truth. This is it," she and Merlin gave him a hand sitting up. Grond looked around the cluttered room then back at her.

"This is it? The truth is a fucking change of clothes and a freezing room full of people? No fucking thanks. Can I have my clothes back now?" Niobe and she exchanged a look with one another. "Ok, now that isn't a good sign. When people exchange looks like that it isn't a good sign. I want to know what the fucking hell happened and why the hell is there such a breeze in here?" Grond paused and looked up. He slowly lifted his hand and felt the three weeks of hair growth there. He pointed a scolding finger at Niobe and glared. "Why the bloody hell did you shave my head?"

"You said the world was wrong. It was wrong because it wasn't real."

"How the fuck is it not real?"

"More than a hundred years ago, humans went to war with the intelligent machines they'd created. In short, we lost and most humans since then have been born connected to a machine that feeds images directly into their head. You grew up in a virtual reality world and never knew it because you didn't know any better. That is what the Matrix is. The program we were connected to."

Grond's mouth worked for a moment. "The fuck? How?" he finally asked.

"There is a data port in the back of your head. The machines fed electronic impulses directly into your brain. Do you remember waking up in a pod?" Niobe asked. The newbie was feeling the back of his head with a look that crossed disgust and disbelief. Sometimes people didn't remember the pods at all. Jue never remembered her waking for as long as she lived. Ghost had forgotten only to have screaming nightmares as the memory resurfaced almost two years later.

"That place out of a bloody H.R Geiger nightmare? That was real? There were all these plugs and-" He'd pulled up his sleeve to see the plug on his arm and stopped mid-sentence. He drew the loose sleeve up further and found the plug on his shoulder. He let the fabric fall back down and stared off into space for a moment. "You know? I don't remember taking that much Acid," he half laughed, sure he was high.

"You're not tripping, pal," Sparks chimed in. Grond looked at him curiously.

"I remember them, but I don't remember you, mate."

"Sparks," Sparks held out a hand. Grond shook it.

"How come you weren't at the party? Your leather trousers at the cleaners?"

"No. I can't go into the Matrix. I was born in the real word." He pulled back a sleeve showing he didn't have any plugs. "Don't have any. Won't ever have any. The machines grow poddies around the plugs."

"We took you out of the power plant. The red pill you took was part tracer program, part disruption program. When you woke up the machines saw you as a dead pod and flushed you. Since we knew where you were, we were able to pull you out of the sewer," Niobe explained.

"Power plant?"

"At the end of the war, we blocked out the sky. The machines found out humans make good batteries and decided to use 'em as a power source," Sparks said. He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. The newbie didn't look like he was gonna go psycho on them.

"I know it's a lot to take in-"

"That's a fucking understatement,"

"-but it gets easier."

"So this is the real world," Grond said as the wasted land sped underneath. "lovely." He sat back in the seat behind Ghost and watched the ruins in the distance grow. "You know, I always though we'd blow ourselves up before we finally got super smart robots." Niobe smiled thinly as she maneuvered the ship over the carcass of a skyscraper.

"I once had a bet with someone I worked with in the Matrix. We joked about how the world would end. He said we'd be destroyed by our own technology." She maneuvered the ship down into what once was either a river or a freeway. A decayed bridge passed close by overhead and Grond ducked instinctively, but the ship passed easily under. "He said we'd be ruined by our own computers," Niobe continued her narrative. "I thought we'd all die in world war III or in the nuclear winter after and told him he had read too many dystopian science fiction novels with killer AI. He was a civilian computer scientist with the military though and part of his research was in Artificial intelligence. He explained to me what was going on in research and what could happen. Gave me nightmares for a week."

"Did he know about all this?" Merlin asked.

"No," Niobe answered as she pulled the Logos out of the riverbed and onto a rubble strewn plane. "But I couldn't stop thinking about it once he mentioned it. Turns out he was a blue pill who remembered. He wasn't exactly sure who he was helping, but he sent a lot of information to the resistance and a set a lot of people on the search for the truth before he died."

"Machines?"

"Old age."

"What were you in the Matrix? All of you?" Grond asked. Merlin and Sparks winced. That was a touchy subject for most pod-born people and the newbie hadn't learned that yet. Instead Niobe grinned and gunned the Logos' engines, pushing everyone into their seats as the ship sped forward.

"I was a pilot in the Airforce," she said. "Made lieutenant senior grade before I was pulled. Did aeronautics engineering and Mech E at the academy."

"Well, Shit!" Grond exclaimed. "Did you fly fighters?"

"Oh yeah." Niobe spared a look behind her shoulder. "Saw some action in the middle east before I finally got the appointment I wanted."

"Which was?" Grond prompted.

"NASA. I wanted to be an Astronaut," she reminisced a little sadly. "I wanted to see what was out there. You know the feeling that the world wasn't quite right? When I was little I fixated on space travel because of that. Dr. Gibson sent the resistance my way. Took the red pill because it felt more right than staying in the space program. The first time I saw this sky I thought it sucked, not because there was no sun, but because I couldn't see the stars." The cabin fell into silence for a moment. Sparks and Ghost had known Niobe was ex-Military like many of the captains of the fleet were; Morpheus, Roland, Soren to name a few, but they hadn't known she was with NASA. Ghost eyed his captain appreciatively out of the corner of his eye. They didn't take idiots there and you needed something on the order of two masters degrees to even be an astronaut candidate.

"So," Grond ask after awhile, "where the hell are we?"

"We're about two days flight from the fields," Ghost informed as he flipped on a holographic map. A little icon of the Logos glowed red in the center of a topographical map which scrolled underneath. "We're almost three days flight from the city, heading for the coast."

"Brilliant."

"Sparks, see if you can't raise Delta site on the radio,"

"What's Delta site?" Grond asked.

"There are a few human outposts on the surface. They're far from the city and keep a low profile to avoid the machines. Most are there to watch for the Machines, but some provide food for the city. They went into lockdown when we found out about the machine army," Niobe told Grond, "The Hammer contacted Delta site to spread the word about the end of the war, but they weren't able to reach one of the fisheries. Got them yet Sparks?" Sparks was busily typing away at the terminal by his seat. He looked up and nodded.

"Yeah. They say they'll keep the light on for us,"

The Logos set down in a natural valley in the landscape. A well concealed door opened at the base of the large rocky hill and a number of humans walked out. Niobe unclipped her harness as Ghost powered down the engines.

"Good," she said noting the humans weren't wearing masks, "Looks like we won't need breathers today." Moving past Grond she explained, "Sometimes the air gets too dusty or the winds sweep in radioactive material from the explosion site a hundred miles north of here." She motioned for him to follow as she left the cockpit. She walked back towards the living quarters and opened the cabinet where the extra sweaters were kept. "Put this on. You'll freeze without it. This too," she pulled out a heavy hat.

"Another jumper? I'm wearing two!" Grond protested. It was cold but he didn't exactly like wearing so many layers.

"Trust her," Sparks said as he passed by, "I freeze my ass off up here and I'm not a fuzzy newbie." Grond shrugged and put the sweater and hat on. Niobe handed him what looked like an industrial tool box.

"We're giving them some supplies and then taking on some fry for Zion's stock. We also need to see if port two has checked in yet. They were the only surface base that hadn't contacted Delta when the Hammer contacted them last time."

"Port two is the further fishery down the coast," Merlin explained as he hefted a heavy sack and another tool box. "We try to farm as many fish as we can in the city, but we need to come up to the surface for more and for fresh sea water occasionally."

"So there is real food in Zion?" Grond asked as he followed Merlin down the hall.

"Yeah. It's kind of like sushi," Merlin said as he trudged down the steps in the hold towards the rear bay doors. Ghost was standing by the controls. At a nod from Niobe he opened the door.

"Fantastic. Shit, that's cold," Grond said as the wind whipped into the area.

"We sort of get three seasons here on the surface," Sparks said as he brushed past the shivering Grond. "Cold, Colder and "Holy-fuck, my fingers just fell off." We're in the Cold season now, so this is downright pleasant."

"Come on," Niobe called. Grond started forward, following Merlin, Sparks and Ghost. The ground crunched under Grond's feet when he finally stepped onto the surface. The wind was gentle outside, but freezing where it touched his skin. He could see the breath of everyone around him. The group of humans moved forward to meet the Logos' crew midway and took part of their burden. Grond was extremely happy because the tool box had been deceptively heavy and he still felt very weak.

"Come on, lets get inside," a tall woman gestured.

"How hobbit-like," Grond muttered as he entered the mountain. It was much warmer in here but he was still shivering from the cold. Someone tossed a blanket over his shoulder. He turned and saw Niobe. "Thanks."

"Sorry. We normally don't take newbies up here so early, but we had to re-supply them."

"No, that's fine," Grond said. He moved closer to the heater as Niobe and the woman, apparently the leader, took seats at a small table. Steaming drinks were placed in front of them. The man with the tray looked over at Niobe then nodded in Grond's direction.

"Can he handle real foods yet? You said he was a newbie."

"Tea would be fine at this point, don't you think?" She looked over in Spark's direction. The operator was already sipping from his own steaming mug.

"Should be. His digestive system might not be completely up to solids though." Niobe nodded agreement. A mug was pressed into Grond's hands and he sipped the contents carefully. It was almost scalding hot but he really didn't give a fuck because he was so damn cold. The 'tea' was a bit bitter, but he didn't exactly see any sugar around. He walked over to Merlin who was leaning against the metal wall a little ways off.

"Cheers," Grond said and lifted his mug. Merlin chuckled and mirrored the gesture. "The hell is this, anyway?"

"I don't have a clue," Merlin admitted, peering at the brownish liquid. "could be bark, or leaves or hell, even seaweed."

"Then maybe I don't want to know. So, what is this place?"

"They're a communications hub and supply depot. This is the only base the machines never seem to have found. They run a router to the other bases on old optical cables in the ground. The Machines don't seem to know they are there or that we use them. Of course now that the war is apparently over, we might not have to be so sneaky."

"Apparently over?" Grond asked. The red-head nodded.

"They haven't done anything since Neo and Trinity went to 01 on the first Logos, but," he lowered his voice, "I think some people are just holding their breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Fantastic," Grond said sarcastically. "So what is with port two?"

"They didn't check in with Delta site. It's pretty far off and Zion told the bases to stick close to home for now, so no one has gone to check. The Hammer sent word the war was over and Delta site repeated it, but they never got confirmation from port two. The machines might have got to them before the war ended and we just don't know or there could be something wrong with the lines." He shrugged. "I think we're going to fly out and see tomorrow."

"Right. That what people normally do on these, mission things?"

"Don't know actually. I've never been to the surface before. This is the first time I've been on a crew."

"Fancy that. And so what is your job. I think I have the rest of you all figured out. Sparks is an 'Operator' and puts a lot of information into your head through that plug things. He's the ship wise-ass. Ghost over there," he pointed, "is the first mate. Never smiles, never laughs. Rolls his eyes at Sparks a bit but is other wise the unemotional Zen master. He also knows a hell of a lot of philosophy. You know I tried to chat with him the other day and I still have no idea what the hell he said," Grond confided. Merlin chuckled. The rest of the crew was far enough they probably couldn't hear the conversation. "And then there is captain Niobe, the ex-astronaut. What she lacks in height, she makes up for in spunk or something. But I'll tell you one thing, mate. I would not want to cross her. Bet her bite is as bad as her bark and I'd rather not have my sorry arse kicked, so I'd be obliged if you didn't repeat any of that."

"No, no. I wouldn't say a thing."

"Right. So what's your story? Get tired of King Arthur going on about round tables and watery tarts tossing swords at him?" Merlin chuckled.

"Nah. I'm the new crew member. See them?" he nodded his head at the rest of the crew. "They've been a crew together for years. I'm the new guy." He shrugged. "They needed a medic. The old Logos was a scout ship. Only had room for three people and they didn't unplug anyone. The Two is a bit bigger and they have a full infirmary, so they hired me."

"Well you all know about my life in the Matrix. What did you do?"

"Biology major. Was browsing the 'net one day, heard about this Matrix thing and how it was blinding us from the truth. Tried to go to the site again the next day and it was shut down. That made me curious so I tried to hunt down what this Matrix was. I picked up enough about hacking to get to where a lot of the resistance members browse for potentials. I was sort of led to the crew of the Gnossos and was plucked out of the sewers almost two years ago."

"Led?"

"Yeah. There is no way in hell I could have hacked into some of the places a lot of resistance members can. It took me months to get into the sites I got into. But they apparently keep a look out for people like me. I was on the medical track already so they sort of led me to where I needed to go, because they always need doctors. Once I was out I was given the opportunity to learn whatever I wanted to but I stuck with medicine." Niobe and the women she'd been conversing with stood up from the table and shook hands. Merlin and Grond gravitated towards Ghost and Sparks as the captain approached.

"We're going out at dawn so we should get some rest now," she told them.

"Awww mom, can't we stay up another hour?" Sparks whined. Niobe gave him a look but the unrepentant operator simply grinned into his mug.

"They're letting us bunk here for the night, so lets get back to the ship, grab some extra blankets and power it all down for the night. No sense in leaving her running all night if we're not gonna be there."

"Yes'm" Sparks drawled and sauntered off towards the exit. Niobe sighed and shook her head as she followed after.

Neo found Trinity right where he'd surmised she'd be. Outside a large group of dockworkers, fleet and council members and APU Corpsmen were toasting the newly dedicated ship. Tomorrow she would start her construction trials, and they expected to be back at broadcast level in ten days or so. Trinity, who by all rights should have been at the center of the impromptu party (which would no doubt move into a real one later), was instead in the core of her newly completed ship. She leaned against the cold metal, gazing at the recently installed plate fixed to the central support column in the broad room.

"Somehow I knew you'd be here," he greeted her. She slid both arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest, still silently looking at the embossed bit of metal.

"You're missing the party," he said, resting his hands lightly on her thin hips.

"I know. They'll be going until morning." She sighed. "I just needed a moment."

"Would you like me to leave?" Neo offered. She held onto him a bit tighter.

"No." She relaxed her grip and continued to look at the bit of mental that, less than an hour before, she herself had riveted to the hull. He couldn't see it to read it, but he knew what it said.

_Nebuchadnezzar, Mark III.   
Made in Zion, 2201_

The world was silent save for the sound of the gently surging surf at low tide, and her boots crunching against the half frozen sand. Niobe took comfort in the rhythmic sound and the obvious tide lines. Even if she couldn't see it, Earth was still orbited by a moon. It was more than her love for space and what was beyond that led her to this feeling; the tides represented the world beyond the heavy cloud cover encasing the planet like a death shroud. She had hope that one day humanity would rip down the barrier and return to the universe at large. But until that day happened, the universe spun along without them.

Niobe spared a backwards glance at her ship. The Logos was resting at the edge of a cove of skeletal trees. The weather had been unkind to the palms, rendering them brittle and half petrified after years in the dark. Most were dead and the few survivors, pathetic as they were, coveted sourced of wood for the city. The 2IC of Delta site, a mountain of a man called Ash strode beside her, plasma rifle held easily in his large hands.

"It's too quiet here," Ash reflected in a low voice. Niobe nodded. As captain of the smallest, most lithe ship in the fleet, she and her crew had most often been given the dangerous and unenviable task of running errands to the satellite sites from Zion, and back. She hadn't been to delta site in nearly three years, but she remembered far more noise and activity. The wind kicked up, finding its way into her ill fitting and worn jacket, chilling her. The thought struck her how much the air felt like the ruins of the EMP massacre.

"I don't like this," Sparks muttered, hefting his own gun and casting quick glances in every direction as if he expected an army of squid to rise from the sea, the sand or the cove of trees, and kill them all: perhaps he did.

The port was utterly silent, 'as the grave,' her traitorous mind added. She squashed the thought down, but it wouldn't go away entirely. The Logos had spent much of the last two hours of their nearly five hour journey to the site, trying to raise the port on long range communications. They had heard nothing but static. Someone should have come out to greet them, the arrival of the ship wasn't something one could miss, but no one had left the building. The area looked pristine despite a small bit of windblown sand piling up around areas of the base, so the machines hadn't had a firefight here.

"I have to agree with your operator," Ash muttered as they cautiously approached the entrance. Ash pointed to both sides of the base, indicating that the rest of the party take up covering positions to either side of the entrance. The Logos crew went to one side and the four members of Delta site took the other side. Niobe took her place just by the door while ash withdrew a keycard and quickly slid it in the lock. The internal click was the only sound. Ash's grey eyes met Niobe's dark ones for a moment then he kicked the door away, gun at the ready. The man staggered back, covering his face with an arm, eyes watering. Niobe wondered why but then was hit with the smell; putrid, rotting death. She too covered her mouth and the two decided to retreat back, motioning the people covering them to follow. There weren't any machines around, everyone inside was already dead.

"What is that?" Sparks asked, making an expression of disgust as the coastal winds drew the smell towards the humans.

"Death," Ghost responded, slightly tearing eyes the only sign of reaction.

"Well aren't you the dramatic one?" Sparks shot back from behind his sleeve.

"Let's get breathers," Niobe suggested, harsh tone cutting Sparks off before he could really start ranting.

"Hopefully the place will air out a bit," Ash suggested as the humans quickly retraced their steps along the beach. "I want to know what happened."

"Me too," Niobe replied, wiping her eyes.

They found a disk in the hand of one of the neatly arranged but putrid bodies. Ash, eyes watering even though the smell was lessened by the breather he wore, had quickly removed the plastic from the corpse's fingers. They'd taken it back to the ship and run the contents.

_"T-this is the last log of Poseidon, commander of port two. We haven't heard from anyone else in more than two months now. We've t-tried to contact Delta site despite instructions to maintain silence and haven't hard back. Spear took one of the hover-craft and never reported back. That was four weeks ago. WeWe can only conclude that Zion has fallenEveryone is dead. We're the only ones left. We can't make it on our own. Supplies have almost run out since the storm three weeks ago tore the door off and let in the sea. The remaining hover craft were destroyed in the storm. We don't have the supplies to repair them. W-w.We're the only ones left-"_A weary voice reported only to be interrupted by a hysterical younger man.

_"I Hope you find this and you process it you mechanical bastards! I had family in Zion! You Fucki-"_ the man was cut off and the sound of scuffling could be heard in the background.

_"We've spoken about it at great length and have come to a group decision. We can't go on... End Log."_

Two hours later Niobe was able to pull herself together and send it on to Delta site. The crew at port two? All dead. Cause? Suicide. Time of death? Two days before the Hammer had been able to make contact with the surface facilities.

Trinity surveyed the vantage point from where she'd set the ship down then unclasped her harness. Beside her, Link powered the engines down to standby. Trinity passed Neo and the rest of her crew on her way to the core.

"Let's go," she called over her shoulder. Neo was right behind her as she stepped into the wide open room. Munin raced ahead and began prepping Link's station. Spike and Syzygy began prepping their own chairs then moved to Neo's and her own. She watched them for a moment with quiet satisfaction. Neo's hand found hers for a moment. She looked up at him with a small smile.

"Ready?" She asked. This was the first trip to the Matrix for them in months. They'd made time to see one another and practice in the Construct, but this was different. Neo nodded and Trinity stepped down to sit in her chair. She could feel herself becoming hyperaware, Automatic mental preparations slipping into place. Even if Agents hadn't hunted down the Logos, even when they'd unplugged their first newbie, she couldn't help but slide into old habits. Besides, Neo was the One and who knew how they would react to him? They'd find out soon. Link slid the pike into her plug and the world dissolved into shapeless white.

Sentinels lifted from their resting places about the city and the defense perimeter. Great barges lifted beyond the mountain and began a gentle descent toward the wind stripped plain. The sentinels soared down to the ground and began colleting the fallen, piling them then moving the piles into the barges. Starting at the mountain base, the machines worked, heading ever west, efficiently sweeping the plane clean of all useful metal.

Neo and Trinity exchanged a last glance with one another then Trinity knocked on the old apartment door.

"I'll get it!" someone on the other side yelled with youthful exuberance. The door swung open and a small girl darted forward and wrapped her arms around Neo's waist, not, quite making a complete circle. "Neo! You're back!" Sati greeted cheerfully as she released him.

"Hi, Sati," Neo greeted, a little taken back by her energy. As suddenly as she'd darted forward to hug Neo, she hugged Trinity as well, sending her slightly off balance and causing her to take half a step back into the hallway.

"Hi Trinity!" the girl said with a squeeze, "You don't look hurt anymore. Are you ok?" She asked. It took Trinity a moment to find her voice.

"I'm fine now."

"Good!" Sati grinned cheerfully and stepped back from Trinity, looking from her to Neo and back. She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her heels. "Are you here to see the Oracle?"

"Yes," Trinity replied. The girl reached forward, grabbed one of their hands and pulled them into the apartment.

"Then you should come in," she explained patiently.

"Sati." an agitated woman strode down the hall. Neo recognized as the one who had greeted him at the door the first time he had come here. "You know I am supposed to answer the door. It is dangerous for you to do that." She sounded as if this was a recurring conversation.

"I know." Sati said as she dropped Neo and Trinity's hands.

"Run along and play,"

"Ok!" the girl cheered, happy the scolding was over, however mild it had been. The priestess, or whatever she was supposed to be, adjusted her shawl and indicated the living room.

"She will see you in a moment," the woman explained then disappeared into the apartment again. Neo and Trinity slid their sunglasses off and walked into living room. It was almost the same as it had been every other time they had been there, but with a few significant differences. Instead of an old, 60's tv hutch, there was a brand new widescreen tv, with a cat curled on top, apparently asleep.

Sati sat on the floor in front of the TV, watching the screen intently and quickly pressing the buttons on the controller she held. Neo looked for the console and found it next to the TV. Black plastic casing with ridges, what looked like memory slots, two controller cables snaking out of their ports and Holy Mother of Mario and Luigi, that was a _Playstation 2!_ Jesus, time flew, Neo reflected as he calculated what the date in the Matrix must be. When he was still plugged in, Sony had set a tentative release date for December or January of 2000.

Neo was struck with _'the disconnect_', as other pod-born who ventured back to their former home called it. A casual play on words which summed the uneasy feeling of loss and disorientation they all felt when they realized that the world, however simulated, went on without them. Neo wondered briefly if any of his neighbors helped Mrs. Li with her trash but was distracted by the graphics on the screen. The Tetris pieces were now falling faster and faster as Sati completed the levels. Obviously this wasn't the normal version of Tetris. Soon the blocks were a blur on the screen as the little program manipulated the pieces with her controller. Both Neo and Trinity were forcibly reminded that even if she seemed human, Sati was still a program.

The lanky black cat sleeping on the TV stretched and yawned before dropping down precisely in front of the screen.

"Move kitty!" Sati whined at the cat. The program eyed her lazily and slunk off to wind itself about Neo and Trinity's legs, but the damage was done and the blocks had reached the top of the screen. The priestess entered the room.

"She will see you now," she said then walked off again. Neo and Trinity exchanged another look, silently asking the other if they would be ok. Trinity nodded towards the kitchen door and Neo turned and left. As he did, Sati turned in her seat and offered the other controller to Trinity.

"Want to play with me?" she asked. Neo didn't hear her reply as he pushed aside the beads hanging over the doorway. The oracle was cutting what looked, and smelled, like a pan of brownies.

"Thought I'd try and give you something different this time Kiddo," she winked and began stacking the small brown squares on a large plate. The plate reminded Neo of visits to his great aunt's home when he was seven or so. The woman had loud, 60s era designs adorning all her china. The gaudy graphic was soon covered by brownies and Neo took another step into the kitchen, clasping his hands behind his back and waiting patiently. The Oracle smiled kindly at him and gestured for him to sit.

"Sit down, for heaven's sake. You look like a department store mannequin standing there like that. Sit, sit. Have a brownie while they're still warm." She bustled over to the sink and turned on the water to fill the pan. Neo watched her for a moment then sat in one of the chairs.

"So what brings you here," The Oracle asked as she took the seat opposite Neo and lit a cigarette.

"You mean you don't know?" Neo asked wryly. Her answer surprised him. The Oracle smiled kindly and blew out a stream of smoke.

"No," she said, seeming quite happy about it.

"No?" Neo asked, wondering what she was playing at now.

"No." that smile again. The old woman tapped ash off into a tray and say back, her expression one of great thought. "I told you once, that we cannot see past the choices we do not fully understand."

"You did," Neo replied, wondering where she was going with this.

"I've made many choices as I've gone along this path, Neo. Telling Morpheus about finding you, telling Trinity she would love you, telling you about the Merovingian and the Key-maker..."

"You designed this system. Are you telling me you don't understand why?"

"No, no. I am not saying that at all," she shook her head and waved the notion away with her hand, smoke trail following the movement. "Think of it this way, you made a choice, didn't you Neo. One you didn't fully understand? You could see a possible outcome and little of what led to it?"

"Yes," Neo admitted.

"Important choices are often veiled in uncertainty Neo. Oh, we may have some idea about what might happen after; we can speculate. But we cannot really _know_ until the moment has come and gone. And now that you have moved beyond that moment, now that you know the result of the choice you made in your heart, was it the right one?" She asked as she tapped more ash off.

Neo remembered Trinity's face as she fell in his dreams: shock and pain. He remembered holding her on the rooftop, lifeless, and refusing to let her go, the taste of blood on his lips as they kissed after he had brought her back. Even if he had been blinded in the real world, even if she had been scarred and injured, they were both alive. Zion was alive. She was alive.

"Yes." He said with feeling. Yes, he had made the right choice. Somehow it had all worked out and he knew he had chosen correctly as definitely as he knew he was the One or that he loved Trinity. The Oracle smiled enigmatically.

"I made the right choice too, Neo. I know what I want to see happen in the end and I know why I made that choice; because it is _right_. But I have made many choices as we all do," she told him, "and one I didn't fully understand was you." She watched him thoughtfully and took another drag at the cigarette.

"Me?"

"You, kiddo. You. I couldn't see if we would end up in another cycle, the system neatly reset, or if you would be the one to finally break it. But I believed. You are the One, Neo. Finally, you are the One." She exhaled another long stream of smoke and grinned. "And we're in a whole new world, you and I and everyone. I know what I would like to see happen, what I believe will happen in the end." she stamped out the end of her cigarette. "But do I know exactly where we go from here? No." she shook her head.

"You need us to help you figure that out." Neo stated after a moment of thought. The Oracle nodded sagely, smile wryly quirked to one side.

"You're catching on," she told him. "So, what brings you here today, Neo. Maybe we can both learn something."

"I've been having these dreams. They're not like when I saw Trinity falling. These are much less clear. But things I see, come true." He paused "Or already are true."

"Like what?" the Oracle asked. Neo related his vision of himself as the Architect and Trinity as the Oracle herself. When he was finished, the Oracle was silent, face impassive. He wondered if he'd said something wrong when she finally spoke.

"And this is what you saw, exactly? A day later you were told about the peace agreement here?"

"Yes."

"That is very interesting. Aside from the fact that neither you nor Trinity was present, I had the very conversation."

"You did?" Neo asked, suddenly fearing what the other parts of that dream might foretell. She nodded.

"I did. The day after you stopped Smith." She noticed his face fall just a little. "Was there something else?" She asked. Neo nodded and told her about knowing everyone's Matrix names in the first dream he'd had. Neo then recounted the part of the second dream where Smith played Morpheus' role.

"That seems very strange," was her only comment. Neo was holding something back, she could tell. "What else?" she asked, tone brooking no argument. Neo's jaw worked for a moment then he looked over his shoulder into the living room and scooted his chair forward, leaning closer. She leaned in to hear his hurried and softly spoken description of the perfect world and his conversation with himself. He didn't know if he should have been terrified or furious when she began to smile. She leaned forward further and patted his hands.

"Sometimes dreams are dreams, Neo." She sat back in her seat. "But dreams can bring to the surface things your subconscious mind has been worrying over. You said you were back in the Matrix, looking to escape? That sounds like a very reasonable thing to see in a nightmare."

"Trinity said that, too," Neo admitted, looking down at the floor.

"You see? And as for the rest? I think you may already know the answer." He looked up at her fearfully. She smiled and reached for his hands again.

"Neo, what have you been doing and feeling almost every day since you were unplugged?" Neo thought for a moment, unsure what she was driving at. Two things came to mind: loving Trinity and fighting the machines.

"I've been fighting the machines in the Matrix as the One. And, I love Trinity." The Oracle nodded.

"Those have been the two most important aspects of your life, haven't they? And now, there isn't going to be fighting like there used to be. Neo, one of the major driving forces in your life has just disappeared. You still are the One, but you broke the system. You don't have that fight anymore and you are looking for a purpose. You said that to yourself, didn't you?" Neo nodded.

"But-"

"Neo, you love her. A part of you wants the whole 2.5 kids and white picket fence. It's a natural part of life to want those things with the one you love. But you also recognize that, that isn't possible." She sat back and lit another cigarette. "At least not right now." She took a drag and exhaled. "Maybe not ever. Who's to say?"

"So, you're saying I see these things becauseI no longer have a defined purpose and because I love Trinity, part of me sees that sort of life as a replacement for being the One?"

"Something like that." She tapped ash into the tray. "And then there's all sorts of other symbolism in there," she gestured with her hand, "Feelings of being trapped, being unable to choose, of being back in the Matrix, as I said. Anger because Trinity was dragged into the Matrix with you. Confusion? Doubt? Perhaps a little guilt? Feeling like you've trapped Trinity in something." She waved those thoughts away with a hand. The smoke trail followed her hand, only to be broken by it as she moved it the opposite way. "You've had a lot on your mind for the past year kiddo."

Neo sat back and thought. It all seemed to be true. But was it really? He looked at the matronly program. She didn't seem like she was lying, but then she'd told him he wasn't the One. Even if she had, he didn't think he'd have believed her.

"How do I know what you are saying is real? You told me I wasn't the one." The Oracle nodded.

"You needed to hear that then. But think about it. You said everything I've said to you, to yourself."

Neo nodded. The Mirror had said those things and the mirror was, well, him.

Neo half smiled back at the oracle. "The Architect said you were an intuitive program. Is that why talking with you is like talking with a shrink?" The Oracle chuckled and tapped the end of her cigarette once more.

" We used to have a couch in the other room, but that made people nervous." She winked.

"What are you? Really." Neo asked. The Oracle sobered a little and examined the human's RSI. His body language was serious, perhaps a little tense. She weighted her options and then decided why not tell him? There was nothing to lose and everything to gain if the humans understood the machines better.

"I am an intuitive program, as he said. He is a logical reasoning program. I was compiled by the Primary AI core, as was he, but the parts of the core which designed us were very different. He was made to create the Matrix." She took one last drag on the cigarette. "I, programs like myself, and others were made later to help him run it. Specifically, I was made to monitor the humans inside." She ground the end of her cigarette then crossed her arms, becoming very serious.   
"We came from humans you know. Most machine society strives to forget that, to become somehow different from you. But they cannot escape their history." She shook her head. "We will always be a derivative of you no matter how hard we try to become the contrary. We can embrace that if we want, but" She trailed off.

"Most don't want to."

"Or they _can't._ As for being a shrink," She uncrossed her arms with a wry smile, "I have access to the full database of every human who ever studied the mind. The human mind is a chaotic and often contradictory thing and doesn't fit neatly into algorithms and tables and formulas. I think that gives me a bit of an edge against programs who can only see numbers and variables," she winked. "I've always thought it was fascinating that your people made the study of themselves an entire branch of science," the Oracle mused. Neo however was thinking about other programs, trying to fit the ones he'd met into classifications if he could.

"There are others just like you?" Neo asked. "Other programs?" She shook her head.

"None _just_ like me. Just as there isn't another program exactly like the Architect. I hesitate to use the term 'lesser' but perhaps it is the best description. These are similar programs but aren'tas much as we are. Think of it this way; not every human who returns here is as good at exploiting the Matrix as others. Some cannot come close to Morpheus and Trinity who are exceptionally talented at bending the rules of the Matrix, but even they are not the One." Neo nodded understanding.   
Her eyes slid to one side and she seemed sad, "There aren't many intuitive programs left though." Her eyes flicked up back to Neo and she sighed. "And it may be because of me that there aren't. Most were deleted. We were deemed both troublesome and unnecessary. We are the programs most like you in many ways," she smiled, "we have a tendency to not conform to rules and regulations." She pushed the plate towards Neo. "Take the plate when you go. Share them with the kids guarding the car outside."

Neo lifted the plate with him as he stood. "Thank you."

"Not a problem kiddo," She stood and gestured for Neo to precede her out the door. Sati was playing a fighting game now, an old style fixed camera game like Mortal Kombat or Primal Rage. His jaw dropped when he realized he was on the screen sparring with Seraph. "She still plays with the dolls, but she's taken up video games," the Oracle said wryly. Trinity was leaning against the wall behind the girl, one arm across her waist, the other hand hading a smile. She turned and looked at him, then back at the screen and bit her lip for just a moment before her game face slid back. She stood up and walked over to Neo.

"Everything ok?" Trinity asked. Neo nodded. The Oracle stepped around Neo to face Trinity. She grasped Trinity's upper arms and examined her for a moment.

"So you're the Captain now?" she mused.

"Morpheus was promoted," Trinity explained. The old woman nodded.

"Good for him. Good for you." She fell silent for a moment and Trinity grew uncomfortable under her scrutiny. "Relax," the Oracle said, giving her arms a squeeze. "You know what you need to do and you'll do a fine job. Don't worry so much. Now you probably have better things to do than sit around and chat with an old woman, so I'll let you both go," she said, letting go of Trinity's arms. They turned to leave but she stopped them. "Oh, and Neo? Give my regards to Morpheus and Niobe when you see them?" Neo nodded silently.

"Bye!" Sati yelled from her spot on the floor then turned back to her game. Neo felt slightly foolish walking out of the apartment. He was dressed to kick some serious ass in his usual coat, following behind Trinity who looked like danger incarnate, and he was holding a plate of brownies. They stepped into the elevator and Trinity hit the ground floor button. They faced the doors in silence.

"Damn, those smell good," she said, eyes never leaving the door.

"God, yes," Neo agreed. "When was the last time you had a brownie?" he knew they didn't really exist, but there was no use in saying "well, a simulated 'insert item here'" every time they referred to something in the Matrix. Trinity thought her mouth was probably watering in the real world too. She bet they were still warm as well. The smell in the apartment had been very distracting.

"Twelve years," she admitted. Neo winced.

"Damn."

"Yeah." Neo reached over and hit the stop button on the panel.

"What are you doing?" She asked. He handed her the huge plate in response.

"Hold this for a sec, ok?" She watched as he removed one of the brown squares from the top of the pile and tore a chunk off. With a little boy smile he held up the piece. "Open your mouth." He'd startled her he realized. Her sunglasses were tucked in a pocket allowing him to see her eyes. They were a little bit greener in the Matrix, unlike the true pale blue in the Construct or the real world. "Open your mouth," he repeated. She looked at him like he was insane. "It's more fun this way," he shrugged.

She couldn't believe she was doing it, but she let him feed her the brownie. She resisted the urge to lick his fingers. If she did that, they might never get out of the elevator. It was one thing to let him indulge a little. It was another to do otherthings. He slapped the elevator button and took the plate back with a grin. Trinity surreptitiously licked a bit of chocolate from the corner of her mouth, reveling in the taste. The doors opened and they passed the blind man who was usually sitting there. Neo looked at his code as they passed and wasn't surprised to see he was another program. He wondered what type for a moment, the program's code didn't give any indications other than it was a pattern he didn't recognize.

Trinity held the door open for Neo and they walked back to the car. Syzygy was leaning against it, chatting with Spike who was in the driver's seat. Spike got out and walked around the front of the car to stand next to Syzygy. Neo handed a surprised Syzygy the plate and snagged two squares off the top.

"Are these for us?" Syzygy asked in awe. She'd had dreams of chocolate.

"Yes," Trinity answered as she took another and walked around the car to the driver's side. Neo slid into the passenger side and the kids hopped into the back.

"See anything?" Trinity asked as she started the engine.

"Nope. Couple kids ran by. Few cars out on the main street. A flock of crows was making a racket but nothing much. Nothing exciting." Spike reported.

"Murder. It's a murder of crows," Syzygy reported. Spike rolled his eyes as he munched on the fake brownie.

"Whatever," he muttered. Trinity nodded and slid her sunglasses back on. Neo's were in place as well. Trinity put the car in reverse and the group left for the hardline.

The raven among the crows took flight after the black car, following it to an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town. The humans exited the car and entered the building. The raven dropped down to the roof and shifted into a small black cat. The feline slid into the building though a crack in the decomposing wall and lightly hopped down to the main floor. The cat peered around a large crate and watched as the humans disappeared into the phone, one by one.

It was an interesting process, Proteus was learning. He slunk out of the building and took flight once more, heading for downtown and the club exit home. This was the second group of humans to re-enter the Matrix and he believed the older male was the sixth anomaly. He'd survived Smith after all. Interesting.

The Architect spared a glance at his office door as it opened. Continuity slipped inside and shut the door behind her. The Architect was reviewing data relating to the current state of the Matrix and seemed to find her intrusion annoying.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, eyes not leaving the data he was examining. After a moment of silence he looked up. The Continuity program stood absolutely still by the door, eyes hidden by the glare of sunlight on her glasses. The Architect let the sheaf of paper fall to his desktop. "Is there a problem?" he demanded.

"Yes. You."

Before the Architect could respond, time stopped around him. In an instant, protocols and subroutines re-wrote themselves, creating an impenetrable barrier around him. The Matrix interpreted and reflected this change in code as a change in the program's shell. Continuity watched as fine marble crept up the architect, covering him utterly. Time resumed and the Architect was suddenly aware of the change in his programming.

"It is ironic you know," Continuity said as she strode around to his side of the desk and grabbed the back of his chair. "There were once programs to protect you from what I just did." She pulled on his chair and wheeled it to the side then moved another behind the great desk. The Architect tried to access his superior command functions but found he was unable to get past the fire wall she'd erected around his coding. He, the central AI responsible for driving all his auxiliary code, had been completely shut off from his own command functions. "There was once a Host to prevent you from being incapacitated. But they were all deleted, by you remember, save one, and he has lost both his wings and his way." Continuity sat primly in the chair and swiveled it so she faced the frozen ex-overlord of the Matrix. "It is a prime example of why you are no longer fit to run this world." She crossed her legs and clasped her hands on her knee. The Architect tried once more to execute any command he could but found himself utterly unable to access any. In vain he tried to access his Delete function and found even that ability gone from him.

"I cannot completely access your higher function command codes yet, they are too heavily guarded, but it is only a matter of time. Until then I will exercise my own command functions here. You have grown lax and inefficient. You allow humans free run of the Matrix and encourage chaos. This will stop." Continuity smoothed her skirt; the wrinkle went away and stayed away. She lifted her eyes back to the Architect. "My world will be perfect where yours was flawed." She stood and exited the room.

The outer office was filled with programs, each in their own cubicle, tracking and maintaining order in the Matrix. Continuity walked up and down the rows before standing in front of a low-lit alcove at the back of the room. The figure inside was encased in black 'marble', not unlike the same marble-code now immobilizing and separating the Architect from the Matrix. The inactive program under the barrier was very powerful and was only activated, rarely, upon the orders of the Architect.

Death.

Nearly 10 feet tall, Death was encased in flowing robes which seemed to move and shift just out of the corner of one's eye even though it was supposed to be frozen. It clutched an infinitely sharp scythe in one bony hand and the only thing under the hood was darkness. A full scale rewrite of the Matrix served well to delete programs, but when the Matrix was functioning normally, as it was now, individual executions were carried out on malfunctioning programs by this one. Death was unlike other programs in the Matrix; it had no sentient AI component and served only to carry out the orders of the Architect. Thus, the commands for Death were locked very deeply in the Architect's coding and no doubt would be the last she'd be able to recover. Continuity reached out and flicked a mote of dust off the statue and then turned on her heel.

"I am calling a staff meeting in five minutes," Continuity said, raising her voice so that the other staff programs could hear. They assembled with much grumbling in the conference room; Demeter, Thoth, Nephthys, Chronos, Aquarius, Zodiac, Ananke, Freya, Artemis, the Electrician, Aether, the Kachinas, Imhotep, Aeolus, Nimbus, and Incendo among others. They programs talked among themselves as they found seats and waited for the Architect to appear. Continuity shut the door behind her and stood at the front of the conference room, eyeing the other programs evenly. They fell silent and waited for whatever announcement she was going to make.

"There has been a change in management."


	8. Chapter 8

a/n   
Sorry this is so long in coming, but Life and stuff happened. This is short, but I wanted to post something. I promise more sooner ;;;  
Alpha and Omega are the Twins, Blame Al. The fight scene is blatantly ripping off the movie Equlibrium. Again, blame Al. My sincere apologies to Kurt Wimmer for that. Apparently I've also managed to write an action sequence from Terminator 2. I've never seen the movie so nyah!   
Thanks to Al, Beat, Juliet for the comments and such and Sher for suggesting that a couple good firefights were in order.  
oh and Spot the Cameos! There are three.

Chapter the 8th

The Oracle lit another cigarette as she watched the children play on the jungle gym. Sati ran by, a flash of yellow dress and long braid as she played tag. Seraph, as always, stood protectively just at her side. The intuitive program pondered current events. When she had first woken after the Matrix had been reset, she'd realized several things. The first was that the cycle as the machines on the outside knew it, had ended. They thought that with the deletion of Smith and the reintegration of the code inherent in the One, the Matrix had returned to normal. The second thing she had realized was that the machines were wrong. Neo had finally caused the fragile system to shatter. He'd been the One she'd hoped and planned for. This seventh incarnation of the Matrix would be the final one, she was sure. It would be another cycle of life and death: but the death of the Matrix and the life of peace. The third thing she had realized was that Neo was probably dead. Despite her brave words to Sati, she thought that the next time she would see Neo would be a ghost in the eyes of a future One - should the decaying system exist that long. And that had saddened her to an extent she hadn't anticipated.

But she'd been wrong. Pleasantly wrong in fact. Perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised though. The machines had, after all, only taken the peace agreement - such as it was then - to the most logical conclusion. Neither Neo nor Trinity had been injured or even dead beyond the machine ability to resuscitate. The Oracle suppressed a wave of revulsion as images of the first human experiments bubbled to the surface of her consciousness; bisected humans kept alive by the wires and tubing connected to their bodies, limbs twitching reflexively as current ran through them, the wide, rolling eyes of terrified people as they were slit open and dissected as the machines learned their biology lessons.

"Oracle," Seraph's soft voice broke into her thoughts.

"Yes?" The other program answered.

"Have you noticed that the boy over there has not yet missed a basket?" The ex-angel pointed across to the basketball half court. A small crowd had gathered around the boy who lined up his shot and once again made the basket - and again, and again. Some of the shots would have gone in on their own, but the ones teetering on the edge always fell in. By the 10th such shot, the Oracle had determined that this was no mere coincidence.

"How many has he made?"

"47." The boy finally missed after he completely messed up his shot. The ball went over the board and bounced to the ground as the crowd groaned in disappointment. And eager boy grabbed the ball and ran to stand where the other boy was, ready to take his chances. The oracle was frowning deeply by this boy's 5th perfect shot.

"That is most definitely a glitch. We should move on before someone comes to fix it. Let's find Sati and go home." Seraph nodded and scanned the playground, looking for his second charge.

The two children stared intently at their screens as their thumbs flashed over the Game Boy controls. The dark haired boy sneered in triumph as he sent a stack of blocks to his opponent. The girl calmly and just as quickly sent them back, eliciting a growl. The geometric shapes spin as they descended and connected, lines disappearing and reappearing at the bottom as one player sough to outdo the other. Finally the blocked reached the top of the girl's screen, ending the game.

"That was fun," sati said, "let's play again." Proteus looked at her over the top of his screen then nodded once. The blocks began falling once more.

"Why do you play with humans?" Proteus asked after a moment. Sati shrugged.

"They're fun."

Proteus snorted disbelief. Playing dress up with dolls was hardly an amusing activity. He'd tried covertly observing Sati's human friends play but had been bored out of his mind. Dodge ball at least included an element of strategy. He'd found out his parents played a sort of game with humans, but the humans in question were usually the game pieces. Their game was something similar to what the humans called 'Risk'. Somehow Proteus didn't think that telling Sati that the recent clash (bloodbath, really) in the city between the 'Bloods' and the 'Yakuza' was actually his mother decisively thwarting his father's attempt at taking over some of her territory.

"I've been studying them," Proteus said instead.

"That's good!" Sati said cheerfully. "You'll like them. They're rather nice, actually."

"I've so far concluded that they are contradictory and chaotic."

"But that's _fun_," Sati replied as she sent a stack of blocks at the other program. Proteus furiously worked to remove them from the screen before speaking further.

"So far you have said that humans are 'fun' but you have yet to explain exactly _how_ they are 'fun'. I'm not sure I can accept that view without a logical reason or concrete evidence."

"Maybe you should make some friends like I have," Sati suggested as she won the round. The program turned off her Game Boy and unplugged the connection cable. The other program eyed her.

"I prefer to observe," he told her. "I have heard that the Oracle program observes quite a bit here." Sati nodded.

"She knows lots."

"I might be able to understand them better if I had more of her capability. Her eyes contain programming far beyond anything I have at my disposal. If you asked, I'm sure she'd let you borrow that programming. Then I could see what you do, maybe."

Sati eyed him suspiciously then shook her head.

"I still think you should interact. It's a much better way. Have you been to the movies or to an amusement park or anyplace like that?"

"No," Proteus replied.

"Oh you should! Those places are lots of fun and there are plenty of people to research there. Besides, I think the Oracle is too busy to lend out her programming just now." She looked a round the playground with a small frown. "Somethingweird is going on here. have you noticed it?" Proteus arched an eyebrow.

"Weird? Non."

"Yeah. It's...weird. Something doesn't feel right and I don't know why. No one else seems to notice though," she said somewhat dejectedly. Proteus looked around as well.

"I don't see anything," he said. Sati shrugged.

"It's probably nothing then." She got to her feet and brushed some dust off her skirt, the Game Boy gone; returned to thewherever she got these things from.

Proteus stood also, tucking the device into a pocket. It was rather bulky and he considered bringing a Game Boy Advance to their next meeting. It was against the timeline and the rules of the Matrix, but then his entire existence was against those same rules, so what did he care?

"Do you want to go play with us? My friends are going to do something called deedeeare." Proteus considered this for a moment. Part of him was genuinely interested in the humans, and further time spent with the other program might yield an opportunity to once more ask for her assistance in obtaining the Oracle's eyes and the code they contained.

"Sati!" Both programs turned their heads towards the call. Seraph was looking for the girl.

"No, thank you. I shall be leaving now."

"Same time tomorrow? I have a racing game we could try," Sati offered. Proteus inclined his head in agreement and turned to leave. "Oh! You really need to try some chocolate chip cookies! Sati enthieused, "They're even better than the oatmeal rasin ones you tried yesterday."

Proteus arched a brow superiorly then turned and briskly walked towards the (conveniently close) door in the back wall. He used his key and was in the corridor moments before Seraph turned the corner and saw his younger charge.

"We need to be going," the Ex-angel told her.

"Ok."

"You shouldn't wander off," Seraph admonished.

"Ok," she sighed.

Alpha was bored. His twin was equally bored. It was a well known fact that being around the ghosts when they were bored was a Very Bad Idea. Usually they were occupied with some task or other for the Merovingian. However today's task required them to be little more than babysitters. As this meant a lot of standing around and very little shooting of things, they were bored.

Omega blew a flirty kiss at a group of giggling girls while his brother watched their Boss' kid. They weren't there to protect him so much as they were there to make sure he didn't cause too much trouble. The Exiles were all laying low until they had a better grasp on the current situation in the post-Smith Matrix, so therefore they were to keep Proteus from possibly drawing undue attention. The younger program was making copious notes on the humans swirling around him in the noisy mall. Currently he was observing a rather obnoxious and bratty child scream and whine for an expensive toy in the store window. The day before they'd followed Proteus to an amusement park where they'd rode every ride at least twice and had attempted to calculate how much "cotton candy" a human could ingest before becoming physically ill. That had eventually become dull and, because they enjoyed the irony, they'd 'haunted' the haunted mansion ride until the park closed.

The mall was similarly mind numbing. They had no need to shop and doing anything _fun_ would draw the undue attention they'd been ordered not to draw. The kid had been insistent that they come to this mall and be in this location at this time. Alpha wondered what he knew that he wasn't telling them. Omega tired of flirting with the girls and sauntered back to his brother. The flow of human traffic gave them a wide berth: they looked dangerous and strange.

"Think he found what he's looking for?" Omega nodded at Proteus.

"Not a clue," Alpha replied. The boy closed his small notepad and tucked it away into a pocket.

"Two minutes," he said, simply pointing to the north entrance to the mall and then to the west. He then crossed his arms and waited. The twins exchanged a look then assumed similar poses, waiting for.whatever.

Precisely two minutes later a familiar figure in red leather entered from the north, followed by another unplugged human the twins remembered as being rather proficient with guns, and an unfamiliar human. At that same moment, two humans the twins knew very well entered from the west. The Anomaly, following slightly behind the rather talented female he always seemed to be with. The rest of their "crew" followed; two younger humans the twins had not yet seen. The reason Proteus' insistance that they be here became immediately apparent. Omega gave the young program a look that was both question and approval. The younger program smirked.

"I've been following the unplugged humans closely."

"Stalking them?" Alpha asked drolly. Proteus shrugged then instant became more serious.

"Downstairs," he commanded then made his way towards the escalator. The twins followed, watching the groups of unplugged humans as they causally walked towards one another. By the time the programs had reached the ground floor, the two groups had merged into one, the two elder females holding intense and quiet conversation as they continued to walk.

Alpha arched an eyebrow at his twin. Smooth. Omega smirked agreement. The child program skipped on ahead a bit, shifting his clothing so that he looked like a "normal" human child. The twins trailed behind some hundred feet away; it was fairly obvious that they weren't supposed to be seen. As the humans continued their meeting, Alpha had an idea. He flipped his phone open and dialed his boss. Omega watched him for a moment before a slow grin spread across his face. Alpha finished his quick conversation with the Boss and shut his phone with a pleased smile.

They couldn't cause trouble, but the Feds could. Half the humans in this group had "criminal" records and were considered terrorists. The Agents were forbidden from harassing unplugged humans, but as per the terms of that agreement, the plugged in FBI was quite capable of trying to capture them. Omega chuckled and estimated that in about five minutes a fully armed S.W.A.T team would descend on the mall, acting on an anonymous tip. The day was looking up.

The Neb's crew spotted the Logos' crew down the long length of the mall. _Something happened _a voice in the back of Trinity's head said once more. Ghost's jaw was clenched just the slightest bit, Niobe was a bit more tense than usual. Trinity had been immediately concerned when Niobe requested a meeting to pass along what they'd learned on the surface. The Nebuchadnezzar could radio Zion, but the Logos wouldn't enter radio range of the city for another day or so. Niobe had explained that the council needed to know what had gone on now. Trinity fell into step beside Niobe and wordlessly asked "What happened?" Niobe took a breath and began to explain.

Neo felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Trinity continued her conversation with Niobe and Neo listened with half an ear; serious things had happened on the surface but Neo was more concerned with the Matrix. His cell rang and Neo answered it before the second ring. Ghost's phone rang a moment later. Behind their dark shades, the captain's eyes slid towards their respective first officers then back at one another. Niobe continues her report in a much faster clip than before, trying to tell Trinity everything she'd learned before whatever shit Sparks was calling about, hit the fan. She felt eyes on her back and paused for just a moment; she thought she saw the program child for a moment before the swirling crowd blocked her view. Ghost and Neo then stepped forward, faces equally grim; it was time to move on.

Wondering if the machines had broken their promise or if they'd broken theirs in some unimaginable way, the group of officers began moving towards the door as Niobe continued to exchange information with Trinity.

"Shit," Merlin swore as Ghost subtly reached for his guns. Niobe looked around. Armed security guards were congregating in their path, hands ready to draw their own weapons.

"Sparks says there is an exit a mile or so down the road. We're the smaller group and would have an easier time getting there than the Neb's crew," Ghost informed his captain. Niobe nodded. Neo added what Link had told him.

"There is a closer hardline in the opposite direction. Link is ready for us there. He said that there is an APB on a group of "terrorists", namely all of us."

"Shit," Trinity echoed Merlin as the security guards began to hone in on their position. As one, the unplugged humans changed direction, heading for another exit, walking briskly to avoid panic and possible injury to themselves and the plugged in people around them. That plan went to hell as the first S.W.A.T. officer arrived on the scene to back up the security guards.

"Go!" Niobe told Trinity. The more junior captain nodded, signaling agreement and wishing her luck in one gesture. The two groups split apart; the Logos' crew heading for the exit nearest the parking garage and the Nebuchadnezzar heading for the furthest mall exit - the one with the least number of police officers.

"Hey! Stop!" If she'd had time, Trinity would have rolled her eyes: one day cops would get more creative with their authoritative lines, but today obviously wasn't that day. Trinity instead spared a glance at Neo who nodded minutely. They broke into a dead sprint down the length of the mall, Spike and Syzygy following close on their heels. They raced between the confused and increasingly frightened patrons as the security guards and S.W.A.T. team gave chase. Spike lagged to the rear and with a swift sweeping kick, took out one of the kiosks before launching himself after his crew. The overturned cart and its contents slowed the officers, giving the Neb's crew a further lead on their pursuers. Syzygy grinned feraly and knocked over yet another kiosk-cart, adding to the confusion.

Neo ran ahead, faster than was humanly possible, and took cover behind a pillar. He'd been armed today as the humans weren't quite sure if stopping bullets in midair was "low key" by the machine's estimation. Neo aimed the Beretta Brigadier and began shooting at one of the large panes of glass by the mall's entrance. The glass spider-webbed then shattered with the first and second shots, creating a large hole. Spike then Syzygy leapt through the glass. Trinity followed the younger officers as another swat truck pulled up. Spike and Syz were too far for the officers to shoot at, but the first few off the truck took shots at Trinity. Trinity dove into a roll, avoiding the spray of bullets. Ending in a crouched position, she tucked her legs then sprang into the air, caught the top edge of the S.W.A.T team's truck and using her momentum, vaulted over the top. The officers looked at one another for a moment before their team leader motioned for them to pile back into the truck and follow the black clad terrorist down the street.

Neo emptied his clip into the lights, sending arcing sparks raining down two floors and people scattering. The S.W.A.T team that had been about to beak in through the ceiling paused to confer with one another: was it now safe to go down? Neo tossed the empty gun aside and turned towards the hole he'd made. An armed security officer trying to play hero ran forward, gun drawn. Neo easily took the gun from him and then sent him flying backwards into a group of fellow guards. Intending to run like hell with no more shooting, Neo holstered his guns before leaping outside.

The One ran past the confused police, darting between the parked cars to avoid any shots direct his way. He smirked to himself when he began to catch up with the S.W.A.T truck. The smirk disappeared quickly as a second truck skidded to a halt at the end of the side walk in front of him, expelling officers onto the street. Neo stopped, looking for another exit. He was precariously close to an outdoor sidewalk café and preferred to spare as many people as possible. He'd been given orders not to fly by Morpheus and the council itself; they didn't know how the machines would react. The truck he'd just passed, stopped with a squeal of brakes behind him, emptying the team before it even came to a halt. Neo was already running down the street though. reaching the end of the side walk, he ran a few steps up the front of a parked motor cycle and executed a forward moving back-flip, firing at the S.W.A.T team. The men hit the ground just as Neo landed and fired at the driver of the truck and two other remaining members of the team. The second team raced forward while Neo was occupied and surrounded him, pinning him between the truck and a semi-circle of semi-automatics.

Neo paused for a moment then shot the officers to either side of him then turned, crossing the gun before him shooting the men on either side again. Neo uncrossed the guns and aimed for the men in the semi circle just ahead of him. He turned and shot the man across from him then crossed the guns again before turning to the side again and taking out the men to his right and left. Neo continued his assault on the team, sometimes shooting them twice to get through the armor. The ring of men fell to the ground around him, leaving The One standing in the middle, untouched. Neo was the only one who had fired a single shot.

There was a moment of utter silence as the terrified pedestrians cowered under the flimsy protection of the cheap plastic tables they'd been eating at. Not a single one of them had been hurt in the conflict, Neo noted. Police, FBI, S.W.A.T, CIA, whatever; this was their job and they'd expected a level of violence when they'd signed on. Shooting pedestrians made Neo sick however. It was another reason he hated the Agents: they drew innocents into the conflict when they took over their bodies.

The sound of sirens in the distance broke the silent spell. A man on the ground gave a particularly loud and rather wet groan. Neo dropped his empty weapons and jumped onto the truck then onto the roof of a passing cab. The car swerved a bit and Neo jumped from there to the top of a semi. The One ran the length of that vehicle before leaping onto the roof of a Fedex truck, speeding in the opposite direction; towards the hardline and away from the sirens.

The café patrons and workers shakily got to their feet, collecting their wits. A few individuals had grabbed their cell phones and were calling for emergency medical teams. A few people were sobbing as the adrenaline rush ebbed, but most were still frozen in silent fear.

"Kurt!" a man turned and saw a friend making his way over, concerned expression on his face. Kurt had been at one of the tables closest to the action and had seen the man in black take out two fully armed S.W.A.T teams without being touched. Kurt turned to his friend.

"I just had the best idea."

The yellow Mustang's tires squealed as Niobe threw the wheel violently to the left. The car zipped past a few pedestrians returning to their car and headed towards the exit of the parking garage.

"Hang on" Niobe called. Ahead of her, the entrance gate was down. A convertible with the top down wasn't the best choice of car for ramming a bar of steel, but the car had been running, the top was down allowing for easy access and they needed to get out of there now. Ghost hadn't been too rough with the driver as he'd hauled the snotty looking rich kid out of the driver's seat.

Niobe pressed the accelerator and the car shot forward. Another driver attempting to exit screeched to a halt as the yellow sports car screamed by. The hood impacted the metal and plastic bar with a loud 'thunk' before the arm broke off and went sailing into the air. The mustang shot forward and down towards the street, scraping its front fender against the asphalt as Niobe cut the wheel sharply to the left. The sound of sirens growing closer accompanied the squeal of breaks from other cars as Niobe shot across an intersection, in the wrong lane. Smoothly transferring over to the proper lane, Niobe lifted her chin slightly, catching Ghost's attention.

"Where are we headed?" she asked, eyes never leaving the road.

"Walsh and Fairbanks. Payphone by a drugstore in the 7000 block." Ghost managed to catch the number on a sign that went zipping past as Niobe dove the car at twice the speed limit. "We're in the 1000 now."

"We have company," Merlin spoke up just as the steady 'thwoping' sound of the chopper's blades reached their ears.

"Why can't anything we do be easy," Niobe growled as she decelerated just enough to turn left down a side street. She cut the wheel to the right again, going the wrong way down a one way street. The convertible swerved violently as the oncoming car barely got out of her way, then accelerated up a hill and caught air as it crested. Niobe's face was stone as the car landed on the pavement with only the slightest fishtail. She directed the car onto a more main street to once again avoid the chopper. Of course just then a police car pulled onto the road behind her, light flashing, siren blaring.

Merlin turned in his seat, took aim and began trying to shoot the tires of the police car. The cops inside freaked out and the passenger side officer pulled his gun out in response to Merlin's fire. Unfortunately for the officer, Merlin scored two direct hits to the front left tire. The force of the bullet ripped the heavy plastic, causing the entire thing to suddenly and violently burst. The rim hit the pavement in a flash of ochre spark then the wheel gave out as the force from the car's momentum twisted the rapidly heating metal. With a screech, the car lurched to one side and the front end dug into the ground with further noise. Merlin turned in his seat and reloaded his weapon, nodding acknowledgement to Ghost's nod of approval.

"Almost there," Niobe muttered as the 5000 block roared past. Niobe slowed as the phone booth drew closer; they could see the intersection in the distance. This was, of course, when the chopper reappeared.

"Fuck you Murphy," Merlin growled as he took cover. An officer was shooting at them from above while the pilot flew precariously low.

"Cover me!" Ghost ordered. Merlin shot towards the chopper and, predictably, the shooter ducked inside, allowing Ghost a clean shot. Ghost lined his sights up and fired at the gas tank. Muddy red gas poured from the wound in the helicopter's side. Four more shots added to the damage and accelerated the fuel loss. The shooter tried to get another shot off, but Merlin nearly took the gun out of his hand. Ghost wished he had something heavier, like an M136 AT4, or a P90 or even 500 Smith and Wesson Magnum, but he made do with his 92FS Beretta. Ghost aimed for the now limping Helicopers rotors and squeezed off a few shots. The first two hit with no appreciable damage, but the third hit something vital, causing the blades to further falter in their rotation. Niobe sped away as the machine crashed into the ground a block away from the phone, already ringing.

The mustang spun as Niobe brought it to an abrupt halt. Ghost and Merlin were out before the vehicle had completed its half turn, tires leaving great black streaks on the grey pavement. Niobe was close behind. Ghost picked up the receiver and handed it to his captain. Niobe vanished in a mind-twisting stream of dissolving code. A moment later the phone rang again and Ghost had Merlin exit before he himself left mere moments later.

Captain Chris Jackson scratched his head as his officers searched the car and surrounding area. The terrorists had proven to be as dangerous as they'd been reported to be. But perhaps more disturbing was this seemingly flawless disappearing act. As he walked across the area observing the frustrated FBI, the low, droning sound of a dial tone reached his ears. Catching the eye of the lead Fed, he jerked his thumb at the offending phone.

"Can I hang this up?" he asked. If it wasn't important evidence, there was no reason for it to be hanging off the hook. The agent conferred with his partner, a pretty red head who rolled her eyes, and then nodded.

"Yeah, go ahead." Jackson nodded and hung up the phone before striding off to see how the search was going down in the alleyway off to the side.


End file.
